Scottish FA not included in controversial Rangers and Celtic plans, could block
The controversial plan for Rangers to join Celtic in an Australian friendly tournament was set up without informing the Scottish FA, The Athletic reports.
Fans have reacted furiously to the news that the club plans to spend the November break, brought about by the Qatar World Cup, to participate in the four-team competition that is widely being promoted as Hoops boss Ange Postecoglou’s “homecoming”.
Gers commercial director James Bisgrove has defended the lucrative plans, claiming they will be as beneficial as the entire Scottish league season in terms of revenue, but there is still a hurdle for the arrangements to clear.
In a joint piece from The Athletic’s Rangers and Celtic reports Jordan Campbell and Kieran Devlin respectively, they report: “All four clubs [including Sydney FC & Western Sydney Wanderers] have confirmed the plans but the process for any team to play a friendly match outside of Scotland requires the SFA to grant permission.
“It is usually a straightforward process with no issues but The Athletic understands that the clubs involved haven’t actually informed the Scottish FA yet.”
Last hurdle
It may be a small chance but Light Blues fans will be hoping for a snag in securing the agreement of the SFA.
It seems somewhat presumptuous to organise and promote an entire competition before it has received official agreement from the authorities.
But there is a lot about these plans that is odd from a Rangers point of view.
Clearly the draw is a financial one, but allowing the club to be tacked on to what appears to be a Celtic promotional vehicle in many people’s eyes is surprising.
Hoops fans would surely be unhappy if the same situation was occurring in reverse, and some may be dismayed this way round anyway.
As The Athletic piece details, although the Glasgow rivalry goes to far at times, it is a unique institution within Scottish football, and to market it out in such a way will dilute that.
It is a sign of the times in terms of a commercial operation, and perhaps that has to be accepted.
But to do so in such a clumsy manner, which allows the club’s rivals to control the narrative in such a way, was obviously going to upset supporters.
In other Rangers news, Giovanni van Bronckhorst doesn’t seem to have the answer for an issue Michael Stewart brought up on BBC Sportscene.