Access denied! No quick fix for Rangers says SFA president Ogilvie

By Mark Wilson for MailOnline

Published: 23:27, 27 August 2012 | Updated: 23:27, 27 August 2012

SFA president Campbell Ogilvie has ruled out any possibility of Rangers being fast-tracked into the top flight as part of league construction plans.

The governing body are keen to push ahead with a new format for the senior set-up in Scotland in the coming months, but Ogilvie insists the motivation is not about getting the financial power of the Ibrox club back to the top of the game as quickly as possible.

Newcomer Sebastian Faure revealed that Ibrox boss Ally McCoist has told him the journey up from the Third Division could take two years rather than three.

No go: Campbell Ogilvie (left) has ruled out a swift return for Rangers

 

While a switch to three larger divisions could ultimately make that happen, Ogilvie is adamant there will be no special treatment.

‘I can categorically take that out of the equation,’ said Ogilvie, a former Rangers director.

‘This debate was on the table long before the Rangers issue came up.

‘There is no short circuit here. Teams will have to come up in the normal channels of promotion and relegation.

‘I have heard comment about this, but it is not the case. A lot of the issues in Scottish football are perceived issues. People can perceive issues but, as far as I am concerned, any reconstruction of the game and teams moving up will be done on merit. I don’t believe for a minute there is a question of inviting teams.’

Asked specifically about Faure’s comments, Ogilvie said: ‘I have read that comment, but you would have to ask Rangers about that. At the end of the day, the leagues will decide what the structure is. But, if we get the heads together about what is best for Scottish football, then we’ve got to have a structure that implements a pyramid on a meritorious basis.

‘I have not heard anyone in the game discussing what has been suggested with regard to Rangers. It has only been media comment.’

Claim: Sebastien Faure said Rangers could return to the SPL in two seasons

The SFA have written to the SPL and SFL to try to set up a working group with an independent chairman that will be tasked to come up with reconstruction proposals.

Consensus on the issue has always proven difficult to find but Ogilvie believes too much of the past debate has focused on how many teams are in the top division.

‘When we talk about reconstruction we always talk about numbers, but we have much more fundamental issues to address, the whole make-up of the top leagues, including the finances,’ he said.

‘To me, the number of teams will come later. I have been in football for a long time and it seems we are never happy with what we have. We’ve had 14, 12 and 10 teams in leagues. We need some out-of-the-box thinking here.’

Ogilvie’s position at the SFA has come under pressure because of his position at Rangers during the period in which the club operated its controversial Employee Benefit Trust (EBT) scheme.

The SPL are currently conducting an investigation into whether those payments to players effectively amounted to dual contracts, with Ogilvie waiting to see the outcome.

In charge: Ally McCoist hopes to lead Rangers to promotion this season

‘I think I said at the (SFA) AGM that I would monitor that moving forward,’ he said.

Meanwhile, administrators Duff & Phelps are to receive £2.7million for their six-month appointment at Rangers.

The company stated in a report released to creditors this week that so far it has received fees of £2.4m for its appointment.

The London firm is asking creditors for approval to receive payment of a further £363,389 in relation to work it carried out since then, between June 30 and August 10 this year.

This would bring the total payments received by Duff and Phelps to £2.7m for the six months the insolvency firm has been in place at Ibrox, short of the £3.2m it has listed as its costs in a document released on Monday.

Liquidators BDO, chosen on the insistence of HM Revenue & Customs, are expected to be appointed ‘shortly’ to take over the winding-up of the oldco after it failed to reach a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) with creditors owed up to £134m.

The document also notes that a result in the First Tier Tribunal’s ‘big’ tax case relating to the club’s use of offshore EBTs to pay workers between 2000 and 2010 is expected next month.