Report – £1 billion decision could be key to Rangers title claim
The SPFL could be forced into making it’s own decision over whether or not to declare the Scottish Premiership season over with Rangers in second place, according to the Daily Record.
All football across the UK has been suspended in the wake of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
The report states that it was initially hoped that a unified decision could be reached between governing bodies in both Scotland and England, but it is understood that the Premier League are increasingly reluctant to call off the season entirely due to the expected £1 billion financial hit it would cause.
As such, it is believed that the SPFL could have to break away from any kind of unified front in an effort to allocate prize monies that could prove to be vital for the survival of several clubs.
One source reportedly told the Record: “It does look more and more likely that the game in Scotland will have little choice but to go its own way at some point soon, very probably before the end of this month.
“At this moment, there is no immediate rush for the Scottish authorities to make that call. There’s still a bit of time to wait and see if there is any chance of football starting up again over the summer.
“But the sooner the season is cancelled the quicker the prize money can be distributed and that’s clearly something which is becoming more and more pressing the longer our gates stay shut.”
What does this mean for Rangers?
To be honest, that depends almost entirely on which conclusion the SPFL reaches.
Obviously, in an ideal world, the season would be played to its completion, giving Rangers the opportunity to catch Celtic at the top of the table, or at the very least, the Hoops the opportunity to win the title without having it handed to them on a silver platter.
The reality is, however, that there are much more important things than football right now.
Health and wellbeing has to be the priority, of course, but there are also livelihoods at stake, and some clubs could end up on the brink of collapse depending on how long this crisis carries on for.
With that in mind, it could be come financially irresponsible to drag things out much longer in the hope of completing the season at an unspecified time in the future.
As such, the SPFL may decide to call the current campaign as it stands, but whether or not it represents a positive outcome for the Gers will depend entirely on whether the season is declared null and void, or whether the title is given to Celtic based on current league positions.
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