AN MSP is to meet Scotland's Minister for Sport, Jamie Hepburn, to discuss alleged abuses in Club Academy Scotland.
Chic Brodie, who is an SNP list member for the South of Scotland, is also seeking a meeting with Scottish FA chief executive Stewart Regan and his SPFL counterpart Neil Doncaster.
Brodie has a long-standing interest in what he says are questionable practices in CAS. Because of this he was contacted recently by Scott Donaldson, whose son Josh is a goalkeeper.
The youngster played for the Rangers and Scotland under-15 sides last season, having signed a one-year registration form last September when he was 14. His father, who also signed the form, says he failed to spot the written registration rule for under-15 team players which permitted Rangers - like any other CAS club - to have an option on his son for a further two seasons.
Rangers exercised that option last month (June), saying they wanted Josh to continue for another season. His father, who is unemployed and a single parent, says he told the club he simply couldn't afford to make weekend trips from Fife with his son that the club expected.
He says that he was then told by Rangers head of youth Craig Mulholland that the Championship club would ask for £12,500 in compensation from any club interested in signing Josh. While not disputing the figure quoted, Mulholland insists he was never made aware by Scott Donaldson that travelling was a problem.
He also says that he only quoted that figure as an illustration of potential CAS fees - and again insists that he told Scott Donaldson later that it was never intended as a figure Rangers would ask for the player.
Training compensation fees are one of the major issues of contention in the CAS regulations. Sums from £15,000 downward have been agreed as the requisite fee for boys of Josh Donaldson's age - but Rangers would be due much less if the young goalkeeper moved, as his father hopes, to a club near his home.
Donaldson says he was alarmed that the compensation figure initially quoted by Rangers could force his son out of senior football, jeopardising his chances of moving up to the Scotland under-16 side. He contacted Brodie at the Scottish Parliament.
"This is another chapter in the story of how we are abusing children's rights when it comes to tieing them into professional football in Scotland," the MSP said.
"Scott Donaldson is a single parent. There is no way we should be imposing this kind of burden on parents who want the best for their children.
"What is happening in Club Academy Scotland cannot - and will not in my opinion - be allowed to linger on.
"That is why I want to meet the Sports Minister as well as Stewart Regan and Neil Doncaster."
It is understood that the Donaldsons met a solicitor yesterday to seek legal advice. Real Grass Roots campaigner Willie Smith, an arch-critic of CAS, believes the case has comparisons with two others - both involving Hamilton Academical.
Kieran Gibbons, who now plays for Aberdeen, was told by Hamilton that they wanted £9000 compensation from any CAS club before they would release him from a one-year registration form which allowed the club to retain him for a further two seasons.
As with the Rangers case, Hamilton were fully entitled under CAS regulations to ask for a training compensation fee. An impasse followed, with Gibbons, who was 15 at the time and attracting the interest of Rangers and Dundee United, unable to play for a senior club for almost two years. His father sought legal advice, and Hamilton withdrew before the case could be heard in court.
Something similar happened to former Scottish Schools goalkeeper and captain Chris Trusdale. Again, his father threatened to take Hamilton to court, but was denied legal aid. The player, who was only with Accies for a year after being previously developed by Celtic, went to university and now plays for a junior club.
Smith, who along with fellow campaigner Scott Robertson has been petitioning the Scottish Parliament since 2010, said: "We believe a case going to court is the best way to test the fairness or otherwise of Club Academy Scotland's rules We believe they are totally slanted in favour of the clubs, as opposed to children and their parents.
"This is not about Rangers or Hamilton - it is about the system."
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