Sports Direct International had the club from Ibrox back in the High Court today over repeated breaches of the retail and distribution deal between the two parties.
In June 2017 Dave King announced that the so called onerous contract with the sportswear firm had been cancelled but at the club AGM later that year it emerged that a new deal was in place with £3m paid to SDI to end the deal signed in 2012 by Charles Green.
A year ago a new kit deal was announced with Hummel but SDI pulled the plug on the kit launch claiming that it breached the new contract set up by King’s regime.
In late September Hummel kit started to appear on line with a city centre store opened in December leaving SDI out in the cold and missing out on the windfall of the first kit launch in two years.
In October a court ruling confirmed that the Ibrox club had broken the deal with a verdict on damages and costs expected at the end of this week.
Covering today’s events the Evening Times reports:
Another judge ruled that Rangers had breached the terms of an agreement made with SDI.
Mr Justice Teare concluded that bosses at Rangers had made a new agreement with another firm without giving SDI a chance to match that firm’s offer.
SDI bosses have subsequently made further complaints about Rangers not complying with commercial obligations.
Barrister Sa’ad Hossain QC, who is leading SDI’s legal team, outlined the history of the dispute to Judge Persey and listed five sets of proceedings.
He said another company was continuing to sell replica kit, contrary to a deal.
“SDI is having to compel Rangers to comply with its obligations through serial court proceedings,” he said. “Rangers seems unwilling to do so voluntarily.”
It has been claimed that SDI are looking for close to £10m in costs and lost earnings.