Neil Doncaster has moved the goalposts – yet again – after Rangers reacted to his claims that an independent investigation would be too expensive by offering to fund one out of their own pocket, he has said in an interview with The Daily Record that it just isn’t possible for the “plaintiff” to pay.
The SPFL CEO is now in danger of protesting too much and is willing to make any excuse possible to block any attempts to find out what he and his executive counterparts had been up to in the days surrounding the resolution vote to end the 2019/20 league campaign. By also suggesting that clubs will “suffer” if legal action is pursued highlights just how desperate he is now.
They have failed to explain who will foot the bill for the SPFL’s own “independent” investigation that had the narrowest remit possible, one that didn’t even involve interviewing member clubs and one that they had no knowledge of until the results were presented.
When Doncaster was approached to respond to Rangers offer, he said:
“There are two issues here. One is, if you are looking for an independent report, it’s quite difficult to square that with a suggestion that it be paid in full by the plaintiff. That does rather suggest that it’s not quite as independent as it might be.
“The other issue is that’s it not merely about money. It’s about the huge amount of time that would be required from our very small team to have to deal with it. It would require all of our time an attention when I’m sure our members would prefer us to be focused on trying to get games up and running as safely and as soon as possible.
“That’s what the game needs in my view but ultimately we are a democracy and clubs will have their say.”
So basically, Doncaster is trying to block an internal investigation in whatever way possible, first of all it was too expensive and now it wouldn’t be independent if someone else paid for it, incredibly he is now also saying that because it would take time that it should be voted against at the SPFL EGM tomorrow, just as well the police don’t take that approach when carrying out their duties.
It promises to be another explosive week in Scottish football as the SPFL soap opera lurches from one drama to the next, whether or not Rangers secure enough votes to demand an internal investigation almost appears to be irrelevant now and it is now clear that they won’t stop until they feel that justice has been served.