Ian Maxwell says Rangers' access dispute with Celtic icons Chris Sutton and Neil Lennon is "another negative" story about the Scottish game.
Sutton and former Hoops team-mate Lennon were denied the chance to work at Ibrox on Thursday because they were deemed by Rangers to be a “security risk”.
BT Sport altered their initial plans to have the pair attend the game, and instead had Stiliyan Petrov in a studio to analyse Celtic’s early evening kick off against Real Betis in Spain ahead of Rangers’ later clash with Lyon in Glasgow.
Speaking on the BBC Breakfast Football Show, Maxwell said: “It goes back to being about the image of the game. It doesn’t help and it is another negative, non-football story.
“It has people talking about a negative element of football and it’s something we should be trying to avoid.
“I don’t have the details and the circumstances, so it isn’t right I comment on that as I don’t have the information.
“But it is something we need to think about in terms of the image and the impact on Scottish football.”
Former Rangers midfielder Derek Ferguson feels it is time for all parties to “get round the table” to try and sort out the situation.
Also speaking on the BBC Breakfast Football Show, he said: "We already have something similar with the fans.
"Rangers will go to Celtic Park and they won’t have any fans in, so that is disappointing. And now an ex-Celtic player is not being able to work at Rangers.
“Having played in many of those games myself, I think the atmosphere goes up a notch with the opposition fans there.
“It is silly, it’s daft as it is a game we all love. We love the rivalry and banter.
“Can we not just get around the table and get these things out in the open?”
A spokesperson for Rangers said that the club had “complied with all UEFA contractual obligations”.
