An independent commission chaired by Nimmo Smith "has begun its investigation on Tuesday into whether Rangers failed to register payments to players properly" between '00-11, according to Chris McLaughlin of the BBC. The three-man commission "will decide if the company that formerly ran Rangers broke Scottish Premier League rules." SPL CEO Neil Doncaster said, "There were allegations that a number of SPL rules were broken." The commission "will study the financial arrangements made by the Employee Benefit Trust scheme" run by former Rangers Owner David Murray's company, Murray Int'l Holdings (BBC, 1/29). The Scotland DAILY RECORD reported Doncaster said that "the independent commission appointed to probe payments made to Rangers players must be allowed to complete its work." At the weekend, Rangers "called for the investigation to be halted and warned that the ultimate sanction of title-stripping could see fans refuse to attend away games in future." Doncaster said, "It's for an independent commission to take forward these complex issues and decide whether any SPL rules were in fact broken and, if indeed they were, to decide on any sanction" (DAILY RECORD, 1/29).
