Ian Maxwell has kicked out Rangers ’ request to hold a top level probe into the Ibrox club’s bitter sponsorship battle with the SPFL.
And the SFA chief executive called on both warring parties to bury the hatchet once and for all for the good of the Scottish game. Rangers chairman Douglas Park called on Maxwell to oversee an independent investigation into the long running feud which was finally settled by lawyers last week - with both sides claiming victory.
Rangers will still pocket cash from a deal with title sponsors Cinch despite opting out of displaying the car dealer’s branding on shirts or advertising boards. And SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster escaped the potential disaster of having the long term deal ripped up as a result of Rangers’ refusal to play ball, but the simmering bad blood remains and Maxwell has refused a request from Park to delve deeper into the wounds.
Speaking after the SFA annual general meeting he said: “The arbitration is closed. The SPFL have written to us to say it was their arbitration, they instigated and they have withdrawn their notice. So the arbitration as far as we are concerned is over.
“In a broader sense, none of those disputes can be good for the game. “There have been two or three since I have been in the post that we have had to deal with. They cannot be good for the public perception of the game because it is in-fighting and actually you need to get round the table and sort things out.
“The arbitration has been dealt with. In terms of Rangers and the SPFL if they have a misunderstanding or there’s a complication around the rules or there’s a question mark around how they should be interpreting the rules then that’s actually for them to sort out amongst themselves.
“The SPFL can set up their own independent enquiry to go and look at that and make sure everyone understands exactly how the regulations work going forward. I don’t think that’s something for us - it’s something the SPFL can do.
“It is an internal disagreement on the interpretation of their rules – that is how we got to this point. Obviously the arbitration process is now closed down so I think it is one for the SPFL board. There is no reason they can’t set up something to have a look at that.”
And Maxwell insists the high profile dispute has damaged the reputation of Scottish football - at a time when he is looking to bring more sponsorship cash into the game.
He said: “It’s not great. None of these disputes are helpful in an environment when you are trying to deal with partners and get sponsorship and things like that.
“Anything that impacts at any level of the game can’t be helpful.”
