For the second time in a week the SPFL has rubbished the claims of Dave King but have stopped short of charging the South African based criminal with a disrepute charge.
King has issued two statements attacking the SPFL with chairman Murdoch MacLennan the target of his anger.
Sevco supremo Stewart Robertson is a member of the SPFL Board and has been informed of every detail relating to MacLennan and other appointments.
King changed the focus of his attacks with conflicts of interest being highlighted in his second statement.
Incredibly King appears to have no problem with his deputy chairman, Douglas Park being a significant shareholder in Hamilton Accies and having a business relationship with Celtic!
In a statement given to The Sun the SPFL put the South African based criminal right on a number of points.
“Rather than attempt to communicate through the media, it is far more appropriate that any substantive issues are presented to the SPFL Board for careful and detailed consideration, based on a sound legal analysis of the facts.
“To date, there has been no such representations to the SPFL Board and it notes Mr King’s statement of 30 May.
“In its statement of 29 May, Rangers FC claimed ‘a business relationship’ existed between the SPFL Chairman and minority shareholders in a SPFL Club, despite no evidence of such a relationship being presented.
There is no mention of the previously claimed ‘business relationship’ in the 30 May statement.
“In the 30 May statement the central allegation has now become that ’there was non-disclosure of the conflict that immediately arose when the SPFL Chairman accepted’ his appointment as a non-executive director of International News & Media PLC (“IN&M plc”).
“As with the 29 May statement, no detail was provided to support this allegation.
“Within the space of about 24 hours two different and very public allegations have been made against the SPFL Chairman without, in either case, an approach first being made to the SPFL with concerns or seeking clarification.
“The existence of a conflict of interest and the steps to be taken where it arises in a company context are set out in the Companies Act 2006.
“There has been no attempt to explain the factual basis of the claim that a conflict of interest, or circumstances which might reasonably have been regarded as likely to give rise to a conflict of interest, had arisen.
“The facts are that minority shareholders in IN&M plc also hold minority shareholdings in Celtic plc, which in turn holds just over 2% of the shares in the SPFL.
“The Chairman of the SPFL holding a non-executive position on the board of IN&M plc does not constitute the basis for the existence of a conflict of interest, or of circumstances which might reasonably have been regarded as likely to give rise to a conflict of interest, on the part of the SPFL Chairman.
“The provisions relating to the criteria for appointment of a Chairman of the SPFL and for an appointed Chairman of the SPFL to be entitled to continue in office are set out in the Articles of Association of SPFL Limited.
“The Chairman fulfilled those criteria on appointment and continues so to do.
“As the above analysis shows, the SPFL Chairman has behaved impeccably in this matter and in keeping with good corporate governance.”
Today the SFA will nominate which clubs will participate in next season’s UEFA competitions, Sevco fail on a number of finance related grounds with King openly admitting that it is club policy to run up losses to reach the group phase of the Champions League.