Rae welcomes prospect of newco Rangers in SFL

Sports Journalist

Tuesday 19 June 2012

DOES the punishment fit the crime?

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Christopher Jack

When the Scottish Premier League clubs meet on July 4 to answer one of Scottish football's biggest questions, it could be more than the future of Rangers on the line.

The news that Charles Green had yesterday submitted an application for his newco Rangers to be granted permission to play in the top flight next season came as no surprise yet confusion and conjecture surrounded the decision.

As things stand, Rangers have four potential opponents for their first match of the new campaign, depending on whether they are given an SPL place, parachuted into the Scottish Football League's first division, with Dundee or Dunfermline taking an SPL berth, or handed the ultimate sanction and demoted to the third division.Nothing can be said for certain regarding Rangers' future, but the Morton chairman Douglas Rae says the need to see justice being done must be at the top of the agenda."I don't think there is any chance of Rangers being relegated to the third division," Rae told Herald Sport. "I think they will either remain within the SPL or be relegated to the first division, possibly the latter on balance. They could be relegated to the first division to show that they have received a punishment. "Rangers have got to be punished, without a doubt. If that had been Kilmarnock, or someone of that ilk, there would be no debate about what would happen. Rangers have already had a lot of special consideration which, if it had been a lesser team, would not have happened. "Rangers have to be punished. They share that view but their problem is that they feel the punishments that the SFA and SPL want to lay down are excessive. Fair is not just balance on the Rangers side, it has to be fair for football. They have to treat it the same as any other team. "Charles Green said that the SFA should sit down with them and discuss their punishment and negotiate it. I think that is rubbish. You don't walk up to court and say to the judge 'I think you and I should discuss what would be a fair punishment for what I have done'. They have got to be punished. Justice must be seen to be done."The financial benefits of placing newco Rangers in the lower leagues would be considerable for the 29 other member clubs and Rae admits he would have no qualms about seeing the Glasgow giants slotted into Scotland's second tier for next season."From a personal point of view, I would not be unhappy about it. I know it would diminish our chances of winning promotion to the SPL for one year but you would get the benefit of Rangers for one year. We just need to wait and see what transpires because nothing is sure or for certain at this moment. Rangers' route into the first division may seem an acceptable compromise for many but significant hurdles will need to be overcome first.Speculation regarding a revamp of the league structure, culminating in SPL1 and SPL2 could prove the way ahead, allowing for Rangers to be punished while keeping them within the SPL structure.The SFA is reportedly keen to rubber stamp the radical overhaul before the start of the new campaign but Rae has reservations about quickfire change.He said: "An SPL2 would allow Rangers to just be slipped into that league. The formation of SPL2 could not be decided retrospectively, however. You have to play for it, you can't just do it. It can't come down to teams who have the biggest attendances."

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Rae welcomes prospect of newco Rangers in SFL

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