Glasgow Rangers chairman Alastair Johnson has admitted that the side could go out of business if a tax bill from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs related to possibly dubious player payments turns out to be more than the Scottish Premier League club can afford, which, according to Johnson, is not a whole lot. This, apparently, is a separate issue to the £30M takeover bid launched by businessman Craig Whyte, and it’s one which may cripple the side sooner than later. Johnson was worryingly incoherent when discussing the potential fallout from the tax decision, which will apparently be made in the autumn:
Glasgow Rangers Chairman Admits Financial Worries As Takeover Looms
The reality is that, if the decision is bad and the club can’t pay, there would be a decision to be made. It’s not clear where the liability lies. It could be October or November before we find out... I have no idea of the sum for which we may be liable, but Rangers cannot afford much.
While it seems staggeringly unlikely that one of the two pillars of Scottish football would be allowed to go under because of strange tax practices (Rangers, for their part, deny that they’ve done anything wrong despite a Government investigation into offshore payments to both players and the club’s holding company), this may well have a major impact on Whyte’s takeover bid - it’s difficult to see why a potential new owner would want this situation hanging over his head within his first six months in charge.
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