Rangers are set to step up their ban on the BBC with a policy of total non co-operation.
Under SPL and SFA rules clubs are obliged to deal with partner broadcasters with the BBC having deals for the Scottish Cup and SPL.
Rangers are furious about a programme being shown tomorrow which is expected to look into the business background of Craig Whyte who was popularly claimed to be a Motherwell born billionaire who owns a castle when he was first linked with buying out Sir David Murray’s shareholding in the club.
After five months of due diligence Whyte paid £1 to buy Rangers in May but with a potential tax bill of around £60m on the horizon and three court orders freezing the clubs’ bank accounts it seems that the BBC have finally decided to investigate Whyte and the state of Rangers as a business.
Yesterday Rangers announced a complete ban on the BBC with an Ibrox source explaining the situation in The Sun.
The source said: “Whyte has always refused to discuss his personal or business dealings.
“He did tell the BBC he would co-operate on how Rangers have got into the state they are in. The BBC were not happy with that.
“Some of the questions they wanted to ask had nothing to do with Rangers or the club’s situation. It appeared quite clearly the programme was just going to be a stitch-up.
“The club has been appalled at some of the negative reporting it and its fans has received from the BBC.”
The fall out with the BBC seems remarkable considering that Rangers Director of Football Gordon Smith was in his second stint with the BBC in June before quitting to work with Whyte.
In April presenters Chick Young and James Traynor attracted ridicule as they squabbled on air describing each other as a Rangers cheerleader and a Rangers puppet.
Former Rangers players Billy Dodds and Craig Paterson are amongst the most regular pundits/experts on Radio Scotland with Derek Ferguson, brother of Barry, also climbing the ranks.
Responding to the ban and accusations of an agenda against the club a BBC statement read: “All of our reporting of matters pertinent to the running of Rangers FC reflects the high standard expected of the BBC. The club has also made specific criticisms of a documentary scheduled for transmission.
“We’ve assured them that rigorous editorial standards will be applied and nothing will be broadcast that is not both accurate and in the public interest.”
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I think Whyte knows whats about to hit the fan tomorrow and is in panic mode
Anyone no what time it’s on , will it clash with babestation
haha what a lad
aach thats only good after 10pm………..em so im told!?
Rangers Football Club is withdrawing all co-operation with the BBC as of today. The decision has been taken due to the repeated difficulties the Club has encountered with the BBC this season.
The Club was forced earlier in the season to suspend co-operation with the BBC over its serious misrepresentation of the Club manager’s position on violence and sectarianism. There have also been other instances where the BBC’s reporting on the club’s affairs has been neither accurate or fair.
Furthermore, over the last few weeks the BBC has been involved in making a documentary about the Club which appears to be little more than a prejudiced muckraking exercise. Efforts to ensure that reporting of the Club’s affairs should be balanced and fair appear to have been in vain.
The Club believes that the BBC has on a number of occasions now demonstrated a pre-determined negative attitude towards Rangers and its fans and its journalism has fallen well short of acceptable standards.
The decision to end co-operation with the BBC has been taken very reluctantly but the Club feels it has been left with no other option.
The foregoing is the Official statement from Rangers FC. regarding BBC Scotland….My comment on it is….their arrogance is matched only by their ignorance.
For younger readers let me confirm that this football club has enjoyed / sycophantic/ sanitised / coverage from organisations such as BBC Scotland for over a century , which, as the Establishment Club, they saw as their right and exploited to the full.
Bear in mind also, the modern phenomena , which we call the Internet , was not always around ..and so the general public , in Scotland, relied on Newspapers, Television and Radio as it’s only means of getting news and views. Unfortunately these three branches of the media were invariably owned or run by people who were Rangers minded and , so, had no vested interest in exposing any of this Club’s “failings”.
It is inconceivable , for instance, to believe that such an Institution would not only be allowed to openly discriminate against Roman Catholics via. their signing
policy but would not be criticised or questioned about it by any of these “august” bodies.In fact the nearest it ever came to public discussion was when a Minister of the Church of Scotland raised it as a question at the Annual Synod in Edinburgh. Rangers reacted by denying the policy existed and went on to issue a statement which stated that “The Doorman at Ibrox is a Catholic “. I always thought that was mis-print and should have read …”The Doormat at Ibrox is a Catholic”.
It should also be noted that the Sport’s Dept. of BBC Scotland , in the 40’s ,50’s and 60’s certainly.. was also known for it’s “No Catholics” policy.
Although going by it’s current incumbents…not a lot has changed in that respect.( a little I grant you…but not a lot). So for Rangers to now complain about unfair treatment by the BBC , is not only laughable..it is pathetic.
It is also worth noting , that despite the fact that no one seems to know what the Documentary is about or what it contains , Rangers have already decided that
it is a “prejudiced muckraking exercise” !! How the hell do they know what it is ?? They might get a surprise and discover that it extols the virtues and sings the praises of Mr. Craig Whyte. ( Unlikely I grant you…but you never know…do you??).
Anyway what is obvious is that the days of “protecting” Glasgow Rangers by sections of the Media are gone ..and not before time.
Now we need to work on the SFA and the MIB’s.
Bring ’em on !!
THE BBC was the mouth pieces for that lot from the very beginning of football in Scotland .
How times have changed.
GOOD luck in France tomorrow
class article. Gonna get the beer’s in and the billy connelly dvd out .to keep the laughs going when its over. 2 nil the hoops tomorrow nite. Hail Hail.