Rangers Suffer $10M Blow As Expert Panel Rules Six Players Had Right To Leave Club

Scottish Third Division Rangers suffered a £6M ($9.5M) "hammer blow" Wednesday when their compensation claim against six former players was thrown out at Hampden, according to Keith Jackson of the Scotland DAILY RECORD. But the club has "vowed to fight on" in a bid to reclaim the cash CEO Charles Green believes he is due from the transfers of Allan McGregor, Steven Whittaker, Steven Naismith, Kyle Lafferty, Sone Aluko and Jamie Ness. The six players left the club as free agents rather than sign for the newco last summer, prompting Green to ask the Scottish FA to "convene an independent arbitration panel to rule on the dispute." He insists that the players "broke employment rules by refusing to stay under TUPE regulations." Green’s cash claim has now "been dismissed by that expert panel who believe the players had every right to turn his offer down and accept lucrative deals elsewhere" (DAILY RECORD, 1/31).