And the stunning verdict reached by an SFA Judicial Panel Tribunal has left manager Ally McCoist facing the practically impossible task of trying to deliver silverware next season.
Always the eternal optimist, the Light Blues gaffer has continually put a brave face on the troubles engulfing the club over the last two months – despite being dealt blow after blow.
But last night's announcement would have ripped the heart and soul of the patient manager.
It was far more severe than most expected and it will have massive consequences on Rangers' hopes of trying to win back the SPL championship Old Firm rivals Celtic have won this term.
In fact, whatever way you want to gloss it up, the punishment basically prevents them from mounting any sort of challenge whatsoever next season.
For anyone to suggest they can is as ridiculous and deluded as you will come across.
Having found themselves at one stage 15 points clear in the title race as Celtic struggled to find consistency during the early part of this season, the fact that advantage was then overturned to the stage where Neil Lennon's side were four points clear is evidence of Rangers' problems.
The current side simply weren't good enough. While some supporters will argue the title wasn't decided and they were only four points off the pace with two Old Firm games still to play, the truth is Rangers struggled dramatically as soon as Steven Naismith's season ended through injury.
There was a spark missing with the Scotland inter-nationalist sidelined and, when Nikica Jelavic was offloaded to Everton during the January transfer window, the championship race was over as a contest even before the 10-point deduction was imposed for entering administration.
Some, of course, will argue against that and put a case forward for a different outcome being more than possible. It is a debate that could continue for years. But that is now in the past and it is the future that will now dominate the thoughts of the Rangers supporters. How can McCoist honestly be expected to have any chance of challenging Celtic for the title under such circumstances?
Celtic, you would have to expect, will be aiming to further improve their team next season with Lennon already lining up several summer signing targets as the Parkhead club aim to push for Cham-pions League qualification.
And, up until this latest body blow, McCoist would have been doing the same. Yes, he might not have known who would be controlling the club or how much money he would have had to work with, but he would have anticipated changes.
In an ideal world, McCoist would have been aiming to bring in at least half a dozen new faces in the summer to bolster his squad.
The quality of those players, of course, would have been dependent on the level of investment from the new owners. Nonetheless, there would have been arrivals with scouts Neil Murray and John Brown scouring Britain and Europe in search of new talent.
But all you have to do is look at the attacking options he is having to work with just now as proof that reinforcements are a must.
Lee McCulloch has been turned into an emergency striker in the wake of leading scorer Jelavic's departure to the English Premier League and, despite turning in some impressive displays, he is not a long-term solution to the problem.
Neither is Andrew Little. Yes, he has managed to chip in with five goals in seven games which is a more than decent return, but once again could he maintain that for an entire campaign and do it in the big games? You would have to doubt it.
Kyle Lafferty has major question marks surrounding his future with speculation he will be free to leave if a £500,000 bid is tabled. David Healy appears to be finished at the top level and, after that, there aren't really any other options.
And what happens if, as has been suggested, certain players have had new clauses written into their contracts as part of negotiations for agreed to massive wage cuts stating they can also go if specific amounts are tabled before the end of the season?
It could mean five or six players all leaving without the possibility of any coming in to replace them. How would Rangers function if that was the case?
These are all questions and permutations McCoist will be running through his head as the nightmare goes on.
The Rangers manager came away with the rallying cry 'we don't do walking away' when the club were placed in administration. Just how much more he can personally handle remains to be seen, but there is no doubt his dream job has now become a living night- mare.
If a points deduction was going to severely hamper Rangers chances of competing next season then this proposed transfer ban will be even more costly.
And that is simply from a footballing perspective.
What it does for Rangers' hopes of finding a new owner, the coming days and weeks will reveal.
