THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON — The financiers trying to save Scottish champion Rangers from liquidation assured fans on Wednesday that the next match against Kilmarnock will go ahead.
The Glasgow club will start Saturday’s game 14 points behind city rival Celtic after being docked 10 points for entering financial administration on Tuesday.
The 54-time Scottish champions were forced to seek bankruptcy protection over tax debts of 9 million pounds ($14 million) accrued in the nine months of Craig Whyte’s ownership.
"We can report we have made very good progress within the first 24 hours of being appointed administrators over Rangers," joint administrators Paul Clark and David Whitehouse said. "Supporters can be reassured that Rangers will continue as a football club and we hope to reach a stage as soon as possible where the club can emerge from administration."
After "extremely constructive discussions with Strathclyde Police," the administrators promised fans that Saturday’s home match would be played at Ibrox.
"There might be finger pointing and apportioning of blame but in the end we are all in it together. We need to stick together and we’ll pull through it," Rangers defender Carlos Bocanegra said. "This club has been around for a long time and has a lot of history so it’ll be OK. This club has a lot of support around the world."
Rangers had been four points behind Celtic in the Scottish Premier League standings. The 10-point penalty left the club in second place with 51 points, still nine ahead of third-place Motherwell.
"We fully recognize this is a difficult time for players and staff at the club and are extremely appreciative of their reaction to the situation," Clark and Whitehouse said. "We will be holding meetings with the staff on a weekly basis at least to inform them of developments."
A Hall of Fame dinner and awards ceremony that was due to take place on Sunday has been postponed, with the administrators saying it "was not considered appropriate" given the current turmoil.
Rangers, which was formed in 1873, also won the now-defunct European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1972 as well as 33 Scottish Cups and 27 Scottish League Cups.
"I’m not surprised by what’s happened at Rangers," said former player Alex Ferguson, now the manager of Manchester United. "I think that’s been on the cards for a while. It’s a tragedy because it’s one of the best football clubs you can think of.
"As far as the rest of Europe is concerned, I think the top clubs have the ability to manage their affairs in the right way. You get the odd club that doesn’t, but you’re talking about a small percentage. We shouldn’t panic, we can just be disappointed at the ones who do fall to the side."