Rangers chairman Douglas Park has secured a victory in court which means that the Scottish FA will not be able to proceed with an arbitration case against the Ibrox club.
That course of action had been proposed by the SPFL over the acrimonious row relating to Rangers refusal to embrace the cinch partnership – as title sponsors of the Premiership.
Due to concerns over exisiting commercial agreements, there has been no cinch branding on Rangers shirt sleeves, as well as advertising and other hoardings around Ibrox on matchday.
The SPFL had referred the case to the SFA for an arbitration hearing in the last few weeks but veteran businessman Park has pulled rank and now brought the action to a standstill.
As reported by the Glasgow Times, a Park’s of Hamilton spokesperson stated:
“We can confirm that Park’s of Hamilton Holdings Ltd has today been successfully granted an interim interdict at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, to prevent the SFA from proceeding with its arbitration process in relation to the sponsorship of the SPFL.”
“For the purposes of Park’s interim interdict application, the Court considered that the failure to include Park’s went against the SFA’s own rules.”
“This ruling now prevents the SFA from proceeding with an arbitration process without Park’s of Hamilton being involved.”
Fall out
What an embarrassing situation now for the SPFL.
Chief Exec Neil Doncaster should be red faced and he will need to answer hard questions from the title sponsor client if this results in Rangers being cleared for not displaying any branding.
All Rangers have done so far is hold the league body to account and to point out their own rules, which has been echoed by the chairman from his company perspective.
Beyond that, there is obviously an ongoing, lingering disconnect between the Rangers hierarchy and the suits at Hampden.
In effect, this is another chance to undermine individuals and to show up that those entrusted with responsibility are not acting in the best interests of Scottish football and not maximising commercial opportunities, as is the case here.
This is a fascinating saga, with a few twists and turns still set to unfold.