‘Catastrophic’ – Chris Sutton urges Rangers to make pledge to avoid ‘snowball effect’
Chris Sutton has urged Rangers and Celtic to commit to playing matches unless they are physically incapable of doing so to avoid “catastrophic consequences” for Scottish football.
The ex-Parkhead striker has implored the Old Firm to lead by example by stating that they will play games unless they have less than 13 players available.
That number was the amount set out by UEFA’s return-to-play protocol, outlined earlier this summer.
And Sutton has argued that failure to comply could spell trouble for some of the smaller clubs in Scotland.
Writing in a column for the Daily Record, he said: “UEFA’s return-to-play rules were simple. If you have 13 players fit, you play the game. If you don’t, you could forfeit the match. It was black and white in their Champions League final-eight rules.
“Scotland’s top-flight clubs should adopt that same policy right now so there’s no future arguing and no debates.
“Celtic or Rangers could lose half a dozen players ahead of an Old Firm game but, if it happens, we shouldn’t hear a word of complaint. If we start calling games off it could have catastrophic consequences.
“It might not just be three points a team loses. The snowball effect could shut the game down and see clubs who are already under savage financial pressure get into trouble they just can’t escape.”
Does Sutton make a fair point?
Ultimately, the key to a fair and competitive league this season is going to be uniformity.
We all want football to continue if possible, even if we are hit with a second wave of Covid-19, and that is going to mean that we have to accept that there are times when things will be much more challenging than usual for teams.
The main issue here, however, is that we have already seen Celtic have games postponed with relatively little in the way of consequence.
Boli Bolingoli broke quarantine protocols and the Hoops missed two games, only to play them at a later date.
While it may not be the same as having a number of players ruled out of action because of the pandemic, surely that is something that should be looked at under the remit of threatening the stability of the Scottish game.
The rules and penalties have to be the same for everyone for this season to work.
In other Rangers news, Jermain Defoe offers advice to ‘unbelievable’ Light Blues teammate after legend comparisons.