Administration, Investigation And Players Taking Pay Cuts At Rangers

Rangers have to cut £4.5 million from their budget by the summer and the players will do their part in making it happen by taking pay cuts for the rest of the season. The top earners will see their pay cut by as much as 75%, while the pay cut for the lower earners is in the 25-50% range with management also having their pay cut. The pay cuts are part of Rangers’ administration as they try to avoid a raft of enforced redundancies at the club.

In return for taking the pay cuts, some players will be allowed to leave the club after the season on either a free transfer or at an agreed upon, reduced price. Two players, Gregg Wylde and Mervan Celik, were just released from their contracts effective immediately with the consent of the players, making them free agents.

The Scottish Premier League has opened an investigation into the claims made by former Rangers director Hugh Adam that the club made non-disclosure payments to players that were not a part of their contracts. According to Adam, Rangers had been making payments to players that were not in the contracts submitted to the SPL and SFA, which would obviously breach league rules.

A statement from the SPL read: “The SPL Board has instructed an investigation into the alleged non-disclosure to the SPL of payments made by or on behalf of Rangers FC to players since July 1, 1998.

Rangers have appointed administrators Duff and Phelps a day after filing an intent to enter administration. The move puts Rangers in compliance with the court, who urged the club to hire administrators within 24 hours, and triggers a 10-point deduction that basically hands rivals Celtic the Scottish Premier League title.

The Glasgow club has more than 100 trophies to their name, but that hasn’t kept them from a long battle with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). They had been involved in a dispute over a £36.5 million tax bill that was heard by a tribunal and now there is a fresh £9 million claim that HMRC are taking action over.

Rangers FC, one of Scotland’s two biggest clubs, has filed papers at the Court of Session in Edinburgh indicating that they intend to go into administration. Rangers currently sit in second place in the Scottish Premier League behind Celtic, and they will be deducted 10 points if they do make the decision to go into administration. They have five days to notify the court whether or not they have made the decision to hire an administrator.

The club are currently disputing a tax bill that could put them on the hook for £49 million. With television revenues having dropped in Scotland over the last decade while the team has struggled to compete in European competitions, their revenues have dropped sharply. Star striker Nikica Jelavic was sold to Everton for £5 million on deadline day, but that sale was apparently not enough to keep the club afloat on their own.