SFA urged to investigate SPFL’s sponsorship dispute with Rangers

The Scottish Football Association has been urged to carry out an independent investigation into the Scottish Professional Football League’s actions in their dispute with Rangers.

The SPFL revealed on Wednesday that the Ibrox club will not be required to display cinch branding after being excluded from a revised title sponsorship.

The Light Blues have been in dispute with the league over the past year since the car retail company began a five-year deal as the main backer of Scotland’s top four divisions last June.

Rangers have refused to showcase the sponsor’s logo within their stadium or on their strips as they claimed it conflicted with a commercial agreement they already had in place with chairman Douglas Park’s firm, Park’s of Hamilton.

The SPFL agreed a fresh deal with cinch, effective immediately, in which Rangers are “no longer required to participate by providing the sponsorship inventory that they have so far not provided”.

The Ibrox club believed that was an admission on the part of the SPFL that it was wrong to stand against Rangers over the issue and “full vindication of our stance”.

Last October, Park obtained an interim interdict to prevent the SFA proceeding with an arbitration process without including Park’s of Hamilton who, in a statement, accused the SPFL of bullying and bringing the game into “disrepute” and is looking for the SFA to investigate.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Parks of Hamilton Ltd said: “We were not surprised to learn from the media announcement last night that the SPFL have finally acknowledged Rangers legitimately engaged rule i7 in June of last year and, thus, vindicated the stance held by the club for over a year.

“It is not for us to speculate as to why the SPFL leadership