The organisers behind the Sydney Super Cup are suing Rangers Football Club for at least $3 million in compensation after it pulled out of the NSW government-backed tournament before the event began, abandoning what would have been the first “Old Firm” match held outside Scotland.
The two companies responsible for the inaugural cup, TEG Live and Left Field Live, say the Glasgow club broke their $3 million agreement by pulling out of the event, according to documents lodged in the Federal Court on Friday. They claim Rangers subsequently engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct in its public announcement of the split.
Former Celtic player Scott McDonald and former Rangers player David Mitchell launched the Sydney Super Cup on March 15 2022.Credit:Getty
The Sydney Super Cup, which began in Sydney on November 17, was marketed as a friendly tournament between Australia’s Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers, and Scotland’s Celtic and Rangers, to be played in the lead-up to the World Cup.
It would have resulted in a historic face off between Celtic and Rangers, the two Glasgow teams known collectively as the Old Firm, which have a long-standing rivalry that has sparked intense cultural, political and religious conflict across Scotland.
Rangers terminated its agreement for the cup on March 31, and in a post on their website at the time said the tournament organisers were “unwilling to fulfil their commitment to Rangers”.
Documents lodged by the cup promoters show Rangers gave the organisers a 72-page brand guideline document that required matches between Rangers and Celtic to be referred to as “Old Firm” matches.
But disagreements emerged over the creation of a joint press release that did not include “Old Firm” because Celtic did not approve of its use, resulting in no joint release being made. Rangers’ commercial and marketing director James Bisgrove wrote to TEG Live and Left Field Live the next day, saying they “breached the non-disparagement clause and the marketing clause by failing to issue the joint media release containing the ‘Old Firm’ wordmark”, documents show.
Rangers’ Ryan Kent clashes with Celtic’s Scott Brown during a combustible Old Firm derby in 2019.Credit:Getty
But club promoters say Rangers management asked them to allow them to “exit the contract and find a replacement team” after experiencing a shocking reaction from fans in response to the announcement.
Rangers said the fan reaction was worse than when the club went into receivership, and that “fan groups were making threats to desert the club,” promoters say. The documents include a sample of comments from fans on social media, including “Why would you even want to play your old firm rivals on the different side of the planet?” and “Reverse this decision or face protest until the board are sacked”.
TEG Live and Left Field Live claim the club’s announcement, which resulted in significant media coverage, had “a detrimental impact on ticket sales for the matches” and “misleading or deceptive, contrary to … Australian consumer law”.
English club Everton replaced Rangers at the cup, playing the final match against Western Sydney Wanderers last Wednesday.
Rangers’ legal defence is due to be filed at a later date.
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