SPORTS Direct supremo Mike Ashley has launched a judicial review of a decision by Scottish football's governing body to pass Rangers chairman Dave King as "fit and proper".

The first hearing in the action against the Scottish Football Association due to be heard at Edinburgh’s Court of Session, is scheduled for Friday, December 11.

The court action will come just two days after the bid by Mr Ashley, who also owns Newcastle United, to have Mr King thrown in jail accusing him of breaching a gagging order.

Glasgow Times:

The contempt charge has been set for December 9 at London’s High Court and if convicted a sentence of 30 days in prison could be handed down by the judge.

The issue surrounds Mr King for discussing his relationship with Sports Direct during an interview in July.

Mr Ashley's gagging order stopping Rangers from blowing the lid off controversial details of contracts with his retail chain went UK wide in June.

Mr Ashley served legal papers in the case against the SFA last month calling for the judicial review of the SFA ruling made on May 19.

The SFA are expected to defend their position.

Glasgow Times: Mike Ashley

There were two hurdles within an 11-point SFA 'fit and proper person' list of 'relevant facts' for officials, office-bearers and board directors that he had to overcome.

The first in the "illustrative and not exhaustive" list concerns whether the person had been convicted in the last 10 years of an offence liable to imprisonment of two years or over. In 2013, Mr King agreed to pay £45m as a settlement after pleading guilty to breaching 41 criminal counts of South Africa's Income Tax Act surrounding non-payment.

The second concerned whether the person had been a director of a club in the five years preceding any insolvency event. Mr King and fellow would-be director Paul Murray were directors within the five years before the liquidation of RFC 2012 plc, the new name given to the original operating company Rangers Football Club plc.

The SFA Articles of Association stated the board "reserves its discretion" as to whether a person is fit and proper after "due consideration of all relevant fact which the board has in its possession and knowledge".

Mr King has consistently insisted he will prove he would pass any fit and proper person's test to take a position of importance in the boardroom, saying he has a "unique status of credibility".

The Ashley action comes as the Ibrox board sought to remove the controversial Newcastle owner’s right to a say in how the Glasgow club is run.

Rangers International Football Club plc headed by chairman Dave King has put forward a resolution calling for the removal of the voting rights of any shareholder who is involved in running another club at the annual general meeting later this month.

That action was said to be a result of Rangers being fined by the Scottish Football Association for breaching so-called dual ownership rules relating to the Sports Direct supremo.