SPFL chief Neil Doncaster breaks silence on bitter Rangers-cinch sponsorship row and says issues are “resolved”
NEIL DONCASTER has broken his silence over the latest twist in the cinch sponsorship saga.
The SPFL and cinch announced a new deal on Tuesday night whereby the league thanked cinch for honouring the £8million funding package - despite no involvement from Rangers.
The Ibrox club said the new agreement proved to be "vindication" of their position, but both they and the SPFL effectively tried to claim victory in the latest twist to the bitter row.
Rangers also called for a meeting of the 12 Premiership clubs so that the new deal could be discussed at length and the full details of it disclosed to all members.
Managing director Stewart Robertson said Doncaster should explain the SPFL's side of the argument during those talks.
The league chief has now spoken out, on the day of the SPFL fixtures being released, and said the revised terms "resolve the issues" of last season.
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He told Sky Sports: “We are really pleased that in the past week we have been able to agree a revised deal with cinch.
“Last season, which was the first season of the title sponsorship deal, we had some issues in terms of the inventory that we were able to deliver to cinch.
“But we are really pleased that in the last few days we have been able to sign a deal with cinch that ensures the money coming into the Scottish game will remain broadly the same. But it resolves the issues we had last season.
“cinch have been brilliant partners to deal with. We are really grateful for their support of the entire Scottish game and the money that they bring in to the Scottish game is vital as we do our best to support the ambitions of all the member clubs, both in Europe and domestically.”
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Doncaster also addressed Scotland's improving league coefficient and said it would be huge for the country if both Old Firm sides featured in the group stages next season.
He said: “I think it is very much on the way up. It was a great run in Europe that Rangers had to get to the Europa League final last season before falling at the final hurdle.
“But we have seen really good performances in Europe from a number of Scottish sides over the years which has resulted in Scotland now being ninth in the country co-efficient in terms of UEFA competition.
“That in turn makes it easier for our clubs to qualify for UEFA competition. We have got five clubs in Europe next season.
“Celtic go in as cinch Premiership champions into the group stages of the Champions League and Rangers can potentially also join them through the qualifiers. Then we have got Hearts, Dundee United and Motherwell also playing in Europe again so there are great news stories for the whole of the game.
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“That would be huge [to have two clubs playing in the Champions League group stages]. Not merely from the point of view of co-efficient and making it easier for our clubs to qualify in the future, there is a huge financial boost to the whole game the better our clubs do in Europe.
“Unfortunately money is so important to the game and to be able to attract some of the world’s best talent to come to Scotland, money talks. Certainly the money that European competition brings to the game in Scotland is vital.”
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