Rangers pulled out of the controversial deal to play Celtic Down Under - then blamed it all on broken promises from the organisers.
The beleaguered Ibrox board has been under heavy fire from its own supporters ever since confirming that the club had signed up to take part in Ange Postecoglou’s homecoming tour of Australia in November.
Commercial director James Bisgrove claimed participating in the four team tournament would rake in more than the £3million the champions pocket from a full season in the SPFL.
And, after furious away fans protested during a top flight clash with Dundee, the under fire hierarchy doubled down on Bisgrove’s position when they released a statement in which they issued an ominous warning to crack down on ‘disruptors and their propaganda war at the end of this season’.
Record Sport , however, had already revealed that crisis talks were being held in a desperate attempt to get out of the agreement without being clobbered by a seven figure legal fee for breaching the contract.
And former chairman Dave King also offered up to £3m to cover any financial losses so long as the club U-turned on its decision.
Now the Ibrox board has finally been forced into a humiliating climb down, while trying to save face by insisting the Sydney Super Cup’s promoters have refused to live up to their side of the bargain in a move which looks likely to spark a heated legal argument.
The latest Ibrox statement read: “Rangers can confirm the club will not be participating in the Sydney Super Cup in November 2022.
“After it became clear the tournament organisers were unwilling to fulfil their commitments to Rangers, we have, with immediate effect, terminated the club’s agreement with the organisers.”
A previous version of this article reported that Ibrox commercial director, James Bisgrove, ‘blasted supporters for “overreacting”’. In fact, Mr Bisgrove said he was “disappointed” with the reaction of supporters, however did not state that the fans were ‘overreacting’. We are happy to clarify this and apologise for the error.
