Uefa pour scorn on Golden Cup

The Old Firm's hopes of playing in a league outside Scotland appear to have been dashed because of Uefa's attempt to stifle the Golden Cup competition before its inception.

A mooted Atlantic Cup for so-called bigger clubs in smaller countries failed to materialise and the Golden Cup scheme was the latest to be put to the Glasgow giants.

Neither club has yet to give the proposal their full backing but it is understood an invitation was sent to both.

Uefa regard the Golden Cup as a potential rival to the Champions League and claim it would lack credibility without a lucrative television deal.

It is the idea of a group of Spanish businessmen who want 24 top clubs to be playing in two divisions by the 2004-5 season.

Uefa chief executive Gerhard Aigner said after an executive committee meeting: "These people will have a problem with credibility."