End to TV row in sight, says Rangers chairman
Ten of Scotland's top flight clubs resigned from the 12-team division last month after voting structures meant Celtic and Rangers were able to block the launch of a proposed SPL television channel.
Under current rules an 11-1 majority is needed for decisions over major issues in the division. The 10 clubs want the voting structure changed to 8-4 but the two dominant Glasgow clubs have rejected this.
McLelland told shareholders at the club's annual meeting that an agreement would soon be reached and the future of the SPL without Celtic and Rangers was "unthinkable".
"I do feel that we're now at a point where we can reach a resolution reasonably quickly. It's not going to happen overnight but we're talking weeks rather than months," McLelland said.
"I would like to think there is going to be a happy ending with the clubs sorting out their differences," he added.
Earlier this month, Hearts chief executive Chris Robinson said he believed Rangers and Celtic would not abandon the league but the game in Scotland would survive without them if they did.
The Scottish game has two years to resolve the issue, however, as the 10 clubs' resignation requires a two-year notice period.
Meanwhile the anxiously-awaited debut of Real Madrid's new signing Ronaldo remains on hold after the Brazilian striker was not included in the squad to play AEK Athens in tomorrow's Champions League group C match.
The 26-year-old, who moved to Real from Inter Milan for 45 million at the end of last month, trained with the rest of the team yesterday after shaking off a minor ankle injury but was not deemed fit enough to make the trip to Athens.
Ronaldo, who was top scorer for Brazil during their triumphant World Cup campaign, has yet to make an appearance for his new side and may now make his debut in next weekend's league match against Alaves.
The player insists that he has got over the injury and will be back in action in the near future.
"I no longer feel any pain at all," he said. "It was not an important injury and I will be playing very soon."
Skipper Fernando Hierro is being rested and has also been left out of the squad, as has goalkeeper Cesar who is nursing a bruised finger. The European champions have made a perfect start to the defence of their title, taking a maximum six points from their first two matches. They claimed an impressive 3-0 victory away to Roma in their opening match and then crushed Belgian champions Genk 6-0 at the Bernabeu last week.
Bayern Munich goalkeeper Oliver Kahn said he is prepared to give up the captaincy of the German national side after a clash with fellow international Thomas Brdaric in a Bundesliga match on Saturday. "If anyone thinks I can no longer fulfill this exemplary role then naturally I will give up the job," Kahn said.
Kahn was heavily criticised after grabbing Brdaric by the neck during Bayern's 2-1 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen.
The Bayern keeper, voted the best shotstopper at this year's World Cup finals, was upset that Brdaric had shot the ball into the net despite the whistle sounding for a foul.
Both players received yellow cards and Brdaric was later sent off after receiving a second booking. Brdaric said he had felt he was "in danger of death" but Kahn retorted: "We were on a football field and football is a man's sport and not a comedy show."
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