The RangersSupporters Assembly have requested clarity from the Scottish Premier League after the club was reported by Alan Dick, the official delegate, for outbreaks of unacceptable chanting during Saturday's 3-0 win against Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Dick's written submission will reach the SPL offices at Hampden Park tomorrow and is understood to include references deemed unacceptable under the new guidelines. Additional "F*** The Pope" lyrics were heard twice at the end of The Sash among a section of away supporters and while The Billy Boys was audible during the live Setanta transmission, the song was ended before the banned phrase Up To Our Knees in Fenian Blood.
Rangers' implication presents a potential minefield for the SPL. Sunday newspapers said Dick will report Rangers after hearing "banned songs" such as Derry's Walls and The Sash but according to Jim Templeton, president of the RSA, the only song labelled sectarian and subsequently banned is The Billy Boys.
He has called for a list of unacceptable songs to be published or dialogue between all member clubs and Lex Gold, the executive chairman of the SPL, to clear up the confusion. Rangers have already been sanctioned twice by UEFA for sectarian singing during European matches, against Villarreal and Osasuna.
"As far as I am aware, there is only one song that has been recognised as being banned and that is The Billy Boys,"
said Templeton. "Yet I noticed in the Sunday papers that Mr Dick will report Rangers after hearing banned songs' such as Derry's Walls and The Sash.
"The SPL have to establish what is acceptable and what is not because while we have consistently said the FTP' add-ons to songs are unacceptable, the songs themselves are not offensive to anyone's beliefs or sectarian in nature."
The report comes less than two weeks after Rangers launched another anti-sectarianism initiative, Follow with Pride, in an attempt to improve crowd behaviour. In addition, the club have appointed their own stewards to weed out supporters who have been banned from Ibrox but continue to tarnish the club's image away from home.
"I'm all for banning un-acceptable chanting, but the SPL have to get this one right across the board and by that I include Aberdeen's references to Nice One, Simmy and the Ibrox disaster," said Templeton. "It is getting to the stage where we need clarity because it seems people either base their decisions on not liking the sound of a song without knowing or understanding its lyrics.
"We either need a list of songs that are unacceptable or a discussion to determine the parameters."
Rangers made a statement immediately after the game stressing their commitment "to continuing our efforts to eradicate inappropriate behaviour" and pledging to conduct their own investigation.
The matter, if upheld, will be referred to an independent commission under a legal chairman and, if found guilty, Rangers could suffer one of a variety of punishments ranging from a warning to the most severe sanction, the deduction of points.
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