Soccer:Celtic manager Neil Lennon struggled to hide his unhappiness at the punishment imposed yesterday on oldco Rangers by an independent commission who found the Ibrox club guilty of undisclosed payments to players.
The three-man Scottish Premier League-appointed body handed out a fine of £250,000 for not disclosing side-letter arrangements during 2000-2011.
However, the Ibrox club avoided the most severe possible sanction of losing up to five SPL titles won during the period investigated after the commission ruled Rangers “did not gain any unfair competitive advantage”.
Ahead of the Scottish Cup quarter-final tie against St Mirren in Paisley tomorrow, the Celtic boss appeared angry when asked about the verdict.
“I only saw some snippets in the paper today, I believe they were found guilty of paying £47 million over 11 years in non-disclosed payments.
“Am I surprised at that, no? As regards the competitive advantage they gained or didn’t gain, a lot of other people will have a say on that, I have my own views on that but I will keep that to myself for now.
“I don’t want to take anything away from what my team and club are doing. The way we behave, the way we do our business has been impeccable and that’s the reason why we are in the position we are in now.”
When asked about the belief from Ibrox that the club were vindicated by the decision, the former Hoops skipper said: “Maybe that’s because they got their own way. It wasn’t our fight, it was the SPL, they brought up the tribunal against Rangers, it doesn’t affect us, we have the quarter-final to prepare for and we are playing Juventus in the last 16 of the Champions League.”
