(Credit: Imago)

Rangers 'set for SFA meeting as soon as possible' after damaging developments

Refereeing Consultant AUTHORITY Former FIFA Referee; Head of PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited). Focus: Laws of the Game, VAR implementation, officiating performance, and PGMOL policy. THE AUDIT Keith utilises Statscore’s Officiating Telemetry, including Deep-Data Metrics like Incident Accuracy Rates, VAR Intervention Latency, and Official Positional Efficiency. He provides technical refereeing analysis to reveal the regulatory reality behind match-defining decisions.

Published on:

21 Jun 2025, 4:40 am

Rangers and the Scottish FA have continued their public spat with little expectation of it ending any time soon.

The Bears have been fined £3,000 for comments made by John Brown on RangersTV after Nicolas Raskin's ghost goal against Hibernian, calling it "corrupt".

Following the fine, Rangers warned they would be watching the Scottish FA closely, which has led to a response from the governing body, accusing them of "misleading comments".

Rangers chief Patrick Stewart will be heavily involved (Credit: Imago)

Rangers to meet with Scottish FA

Speaking exclusively to Ibrox News, Keith Hackett believes a meeting must be held as soon as possible, with the back-and-forth statements very damaging.

The former Premier League and FIFA-listed referee insisted that the personalities need to be taken out of the debate, and only deal with facts.

Hackett had previously warned Rangers to lawyer up to review the case and see if they could regain trust in the SFA moving forward.

"These public spats are damaging to the image of the game," Hackett said.

"The Scottish FA need to hold a quick meeting with Rangers. Appoint an Independent Chairman from a legal background, and then have a gloves-off, shirt-sleeves-rolled-up, no-holds-barred discussion.

"The public debate in the media is unhelpful and damaging to the image of the game. Take the personalities out of the debate and deal with facts."

Russell Martin will be staying clear (Credit: Imago)

Russell Martin steps into Rangers warzone

With the playing squad returning to Auchenhowie on Monday (23 June), this will be dragging on behind the scenes at Ibrox.

Martin will want full focus on his playing squad as they prepare for crucial Champions League qualifiers and another Scottish Premiership season on the horizon.

Big changes are needed, and thankfully, a deal for Max Aarons is close to completion, showing that Rangers have their priorities straight.

Although disagreements will continue, it would be good to get this particular issue sorted before the real business begins at Ibrox in a matter of weeks.

With the lack of trust in the Scottish FA and their officials, there is likely to be another talking point fairly soon, and let's hope Rangers aren't involved as heavily as they have been in recent months.

Keith Hackett

Scottish FA