SPL expect to receive Green's newco application on Monday as lobbying of chairmen begins ahead of vote

Chief football writer

Saturday 16 June 2012

CHARLES Green's attempt to get his newco Rangers into the SPL will take a major step forward on Monday when the governing body is due to receive his formal request to join the top flight.

Duff & Phelps are co-operating

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Michael Grant

Green, the chief executive, has already held discussions with senior Hampden officials and the document requesting admission to the league is due to arrive before Monday's scheduled meeting of the SPL board. That will trigger the start of the 14-day minimum notice period, after which the 12 member clubs will meet and decide whether to allow newco Rangers into the SPL. The vote will probably be held on or around Monday, July 2.

The SPL does not have the authority to impose any conditions on a newco but in effect that is meaningless because Green would be told that his request will have no prospect of being voted through unless he agreed to a number of undertakings. That could include accepting responsibility for the outcome of the SPL's investigation into alleged undisclosed payments to players via Employee Benefits Trusts (EBTs), settling all football debts to other top flight clubs, or accepting a points deduction for one or more seasons.Green will embark on a series of discussions and lobbying exercises with the other club chairmen before the crucial vote is held, and he knows there is a serious doubt over whether Rangers would secure the necessary 8-4 majority required to be in the SPL next season (the "oldco" can vote on transferring its share to the newco).Administrators Duff & Phelps will represent oldco Rangers at the meeting on Monday, and at the eventual meeting on allowing in the newco. The oldco holds the SPL share but the newco has Ibrox, Murray Park and, as far Green is concerned, the squad of players. Part of the contract Duff & Phelps signed with Green's consortium was a clause that it would transfer Rangers' SPL share only to Green. Any rival bidder, including the group assembled by Walter Smith, could not make an independent attempt to secure the share. Smith's group has made no contact with the SPL so far.Only when newco Rangers know if they have secured a place in the SPL – or, failing that, in the third division of the Scottish Football League – could the club apply for membership of the Scottish Football Association.Rangers failed to meet a deadline for filing audited financial documents to the SPL yesterday but another "period of grace" – the second applied for by the club – is expected to be granted so that paperwork can be submitted before sanctions have to be imposed. Rangers had until May 28 to submit documents necessary to meet the SPL Financial Disclosure Requirements but were granted an extension until yesterday. Another shorter extension will be granted, with the SPL recognising that the club's financial crisis – rather than any deliberate withholding of information – is the reason for the ongoing delay.On Monday the SPL board will receive an update from its legal team on the ongoing investigation into alleged undisclosed payments by Rangers via EBTs. Former Ibrox director Hugh Adam alleged that payments were made to players during Sir David Murray's ownership but not disclosed to the SFA or SPL. The investigation covers Rangers' players contracts dating back to the formation of the SPL in 1998.Duff & Phelps were almost three months late in providing some essential documents to the investigation – which is being carried out by the SPL's lawyers, Harper Macleod, and began on March 5 – but their level of co-operation has significantly improved since the club was threatened with sanctions for failing to comply with requests last month.An SPL source dismissed one story yesterday which had claimed the EBT investigation had been put on hold because the governing body was unsure who would be held accountable if Rangers were found guilty.

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SPL expect to receive Green's newco application on Monday as lobbying of chairmen begins ahead of vote

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