Tuesday 27 October 2015 19:22, UK
Rangers chairman Dave King has reassured supporters he will continue to protect the club's interests with "robustness" as litigation with Sports Direct continues.
Mike Ashley's company, which soaks up 75 per cent of the club's merchandise profits, was granted an injunction preventing the release of confidential information about their retail deal with Rangers at the club's Extraordinary General Meeting in June.
It followed an article at the time in Scottish newspaper The Daily Record in which King had said he wanted to use that meeting to reveal details of retail contracts between the two parties.
That threat came after Ashley used his nine per cent stake in the Glasgow giants to call the general meeting and demand repayment of a £5m loan issued to the old Rangers board.
Ashley's repayment motion was voted down at the time but now King has released a statement in which he vows the club will not be "cowed" by the ongoing litigation and claims he has continued to take Sports Direct to task for "poor business practices and corporate governance failures."
The statement reads: "Supporters have requested an update on the Club's relationship with Sports Direct which is one of the key issues that I promised to deal with prior to, and after, being elected to the board of Rangers International Football Club.
"It is widely known that Sports Direct applied to court for an injunction to prevent myself and my fellow directors from disclosing certain details of the agreements between the Club and the Sports Direct group, including the existence or detail of any meetings between the parties.
"The gagging order prevents me from disclosing the details of our contractual relationship, it does not prevent me from updating supporters on the status of the general relationship with Sports Direct.
"Sports Direct continues to litigate with the Club in an attempt to enforce its wishes and demands. This seems based on the simple logic that Sports Direct can outspend the Club in legal fees and thereby deal with the Club as it pleases.
"I assure supporters that the Club will not be cowed by this threat and the recent lack of communication (as a result of the gagging order) belies the level of robustness with which the Club's interest has been and will be protected.
"Furthermore, I have sent letters to Sports Direct in my capacity as a director of Rangers Retail Limited taking them to task for poor business practices and corporate governance failures.
"The Club believed that it was entering into a joint venture with a large public company that would behave as a partner should and would conduct its business affairs in an appropriate fashion.
"In my 40 years of business I cannot recollect having dealt with a public company that is run more like a wholly owned family business and appears unconcerned with other stakeholders- partners or otherwise.
"It remains my intention to ensure that Sports Direct is legally and financially held accountable for its failures."
