Canavan issues funding warning

Parliament member Dennis Canavan has warned the Scottish Premier League that funding could be withdrawn if they do not sort out the current promotion wrangle satisfactorily.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Partick will not know which league they will be playing in next season until the SPL clubs meet next week to discuss the situation again.

Now the Independent Falkirk Member of the Scottish Parliament, who will chair a cross-party meeting to discuss the state of Scottish football on Wednesday, insists Parliament will be ensuring the heat remains on the SPL.

Canavan told the Daily Express: “Sports Minister Frank McAveety recently announced that a considerable amount of public money will be invested in Scottish football.

“If we are going to invest public money though, we ought to ensure that the recipient bodies are accountable, democratic and adhere to the basic principles of social justice.

“The refusal to allow Inverness promotion was a fiasco and I am not alone in thinking the behaviour of the SPL in the past few weeks is bringing Scottish football into disrepute.

“There is a mood within the Parliament that we are not going to let things rest and I hope we can put sufficient pressure on the SPL to make sure the Inverness case is fairly dealt with.”