CHARLES Green last week claimed Rangers could use sex discrimination laws to sue Uefa if the Ibrox club's bid to join a cross-border league is blocked.

The Gers chief executive was making reference to an Uefa-sanctioned women's league that now exists in Belgium and Holland.

I take his point – but I do not think we will see any legal action against European football's all-powerful governing body any time soon.

Taking the Scottish football authorities to court, though, is another matter entirely.

I would imagine the Glasgow club would have a strong case against the organisations currently trying to push through a 12-12-18 set-up in time for the start of next season.

Over 38,000 supporters have bought season tickets on the understanding that, if Rangers win the Irn-Bru Third Division, they will be promoted.

But, under the proposals being put forward, Rangers will not go up to the Second Division.

They will be playing the same clubs at the same venues in the bottom tier once again.

Rangers fans will have spent a lot of money for nothing if that happens. I think they have an argument for getting their money back.The SFA and the SPL have rammed down everybody's throats that "rules are rules" for many years now.

Well, they will have well and truly ripped up the rule book and thrown it out of the window if they bring in this proposed change in time for next season.

Campbell Ogilvie, the SFA president, is correct when he says that clubs need to know what they are playing for, that promotion and relegation exists, at the start of the season.

All of a sudden, halfway through the campaign, it transpires Rangers might be playing for nothing. It makes our game a laughing stock.

If the 12-12-18 plan gets kicked out, then the existing set-up will be in place for the 2013/14 season.

You have to wonder what ESPN and Sky think about all of this. There is also no league sponsor for next term.

How can the SPL bring a company in as their flagship sponsor when, as things stand, they don't know what they will be sponsoring? At the moment, the proposed move to a 12-12-18 league is on the table and that has to be looked at. SFL and SPL clubs will examine it at the end of the month.

Scottish football is being derided across Europe at the moment. If this move fails we will be ridiculed even more.

Green's suggestion that a 14-14-14 set-up should be looked at in greater depth seems sensible to me.

There would be more clubs in the top flight – something most fans are keen to see.

There could also be two clubs relegated – depending on the outcome of a play-off between the second bottom team in the SPL and the second top club in the First Division – and two clubs promoted.

Again, that is something that would appeal to fans. Certainly, having a Plan B would not be a bad idea if the current proposal is rejected.

Whatever you think about the merits of the 14-14-14 plan put forward by Rangers, it underlines the fact that the Ibrox club have strong opinions on reconstruction debate and deserve to have an input.

Okay, they are in the Irn-Bru Third Division and are only associate members of the SFA as things stand.

But they are still a massive club and should have been invited to the talks even though, ultimately, they have no vote.

Clubs who get 200-odd people turning up at a game are going to have a say in the future of the sport in this country –Rangers are not.

That is farcical.

Is it any wonder that our best young players are keen to move down to npower Championship, League One and League Two clubs in England when they see how the leagues are run here?

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