As expected, Rangers football club have requested that their SPL match against Dundee United is postponed, to allow them more time to prepare for the UEFA Cup final on Wednesday, 14th of May.
Dundee United are scheduled to play at Ibrox on Saturday, 10th of May, but Rangers think that Zenit St Petersburg will have an unfair advantage, if they are forced to play a competitive match just 5 days before the final in Manchester.
The Russian Football Federation have postponed both of Zenit St Petersburg`s matches, against Lokomotiv Moscow(h) and Luch Energia(a), to give Dick Advocaat’s side more preparation time.
The Scottish Premier League is already suffering a minor fixture crisis, which has forced the season to be extended by 4 days, because Rangers have 5 league matches, 1 Scottish Cup final and the UEFA Cup Final to play before the end of the current campaign.
“We have not been able to agree to that request,” a spokesman for the SPL told the BBC.
“Postponing would have a knock-on effect. We would have to move all the top-six fixtures to end the season with the teams playing at the same time.”
However, Rangers feel that the SPL isn`t showing enough support, especially since a UEFA Cup final victory would boost Scotland`s coefficient and be a great advert for Scottish football.
“The SPL should take a long hard look at what other federations do, given the enormity of the situation, and what reaching a European final has done for the coefficient and country,” said Martin Bain, Rangers chief executive.
Although the SPL have refused to reschedule the Dundee United match, there is still speculation that a compromise might still be found over the next few days.
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This is ridiculous. How many SPL games do the vermin want to postpone before a European game? You would think they would have learned their lesson after the embarrassing Gretna fiasco, which is actually one of the contributing factors as to why the fixture list is in the mess its in!