Ticket firm drops backing for Rangers bid

Rangers, Scottish champions a record 54 times, went into administration in February over unpaid tax bills and efforts to find a buyer have suffered delays because of uncertainty about the club's status on and off the pitch.

Ticketus paid Rangers owner Craig Whyte more than 20 million pounds for the rights to sell season tickets for coming years and is seeking to safeguard that investment.

It had been working with former Rangers director Paul Murray, who is leading the Blue Knights consortium bidding to take over the club.

"Ticketus today confirms that it has withdrawn from the Blue Knights Consortium after it was unable to finalise satisfactory terms of agreement for its investors with the Blue Knights around restructuring its ticket purchase agreement," the company said in a statement.

"Consequently Ticketus is no longer able to play a role in the Consortium's bid for The Rangers Football Club PLC at this stage."

U.S. businessman Bill Miller has made a conditional bid for Rangers and Brian Kennedy, owner of Sale Sharks rugby club in northern England, is also interested in the club.

Rangers are an institution in Scotland and their rivalry with fellow Glasgow club Celtic is the focal point of Scottish soccer.

However, a rescue of Rangers is hugely complicated.

The club faces a tax liability of as much as 75 million pounds relating to how they paid players over the past decade.

The Scottish Football Association has also given them a 12-month transfer embargo, meaning they may have to field a weak team if top players opt to leave this summer.

Finally, the Scottish Premier League meets on Monday to decide whether to impose additional points penalties on clubs that get into financial problems.