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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Aidan Smith

Rangers fan group Club 1872 insist BBC Scotland failed to acknowledge 'inherent bias'

Rangers fan group Club 1872 insist BBC failed to acknowledge 'inherent bias'

CLUB 1872 have reacted to today’s agreement between Rangers and the BBC that the broadcaster will resume full coverage of the Ibrox club. 

Restrictions were in place for the BBC and today they acknowledged errors in past coverage and said they were happy to repeat those apologies. 

Club 1872 has welcomed the news, but the eighth largest shareholders of the club say BBC Scotland has not “acknowledged the inherent bias in much of their coverage of the club”. 

A statement read: “Club 1872 notes today’s announcement by BBC Scotland that they have reached an agreement with Rangers to resume coverage for the 2022/23 season, following a period where they refused to adequately cover Rangers games. 

“Whilst cautiously welcoming this development, we note that BBC Scotland has not in fact acknowledged the inherent bias in much of their coverage of the club over the past decade. 

“They have chosen instead to restate the apologies they have already made – the majority of which had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, out of their senior management following detailed complaints from Club 1872 and hundreds of individual Rangers supporters. 

“This climb down by BBC Scotland is a victory for all those supporters, and we thank those supporters for their considerable time and effort, but it does not address the core problem.  

“Without a wholesale change in the culture at BBC Scotland, which does not appear to have taken place, it remains to be seen whether they are able to ensure pundits like Michael Stewart adhere to BBC editorial standards despite multiple breaches involving Rangers in the past. 

“In the meantime, we are pleased that supporters will once again have access to the coverage that their licence fee pays for. The quality and fairness of that coverage will now be the focus over the coming months.” 

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