• SPL

Rangers' Whyte turns tables on SFA

ESPN staff
June 7, 2012
Craig Whyte has said he will be 'going after' the SFA © PA Photos
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Rangers owner Craig Whyte has threatened to take the Scottish Football Association to court for defamation, as the governing body prepares to pursue the businessman for £200,000 in fines for bringing the game into disrepute.

Whyte had already been deemed 'not fit and proper' to hold an official position in the game before being handed the fines, after it emerged that Rangers were the subject of two tax investigations that sent the club into administration under his ownership.

The Ibrox club were handed a 12-month transfer embargo - successfully appealed through the courts in May - and fined £160,000 after being found guilty of five charges relating to their financial affairs and the appointment of Whyte as chairman.

Since then administrators Duff and Phelps have found a potential buyer for Rangers in a consortium led by Charles Green, who has agreed to buy Whyte's 85 percent share of the club for £2 before injecting cash to help the club get back on its feet.

But while Rangers appear to have turned a corner after looking set to go out of business earlier this year, their outgoing owner is still embroiled in a fight for his reputation and fund following his disastrous spell in charge, culminating in the SFA's sanctions.

Whyte originally refused to pay the fine, which he described as "a joke", but has hardened his stance after it emerged that the SFA was preparing another legal case against him.

"I will be going after them," Whyte said. "I will be looking at legal options against the SFA. They have a lot to answer for with their defamatory statements about me which formed the basis of their so-called investigation.

"Scottish football's regulators are inept and have showed themselves up. But they have no jurisdiction over me."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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