RANGERS have accused the SPFL of adopting an ‘inadequate and antagonistic approach’ after chairman Douglas Park clinched a Court victory to alter Scottish FA arbitration proceedings.

The Premiership champions are embroiled in a lengthy legal dispute with the SPFL regarding an £8million sponsorship deal with online used car retailer cinch.

Ibrox chiefs have refused to sanction the use of cinch branding on the shirts that Steven Gerrard’s side have worn in their three Premiership fixtures so far this season or on advertising and media hoardings.

The SPFL referred the case to the SFA for arbitration earlier this month but Park has now played his legal hand and - at a hearing on Monday - been successful in his attempts to ensure his firm are represented at any Hampden hearing.

A Rangers statement read: “Today’s court ruling once again underlines ongoing concerns regarding the corporate governance and leadership of the SPFL.

“These concerns are shared by many of the SPFL’s member clubs. We have complied with the SPFL’s own rules but today’s court hearing was one that could easily have been avoided if those responsible had adopted a more consensual and less confrontational approach.

“The Executive of the SPFL required to carry out effective due diligence before entering into its contract with the new league sponsor.

“Instead, an inadequate and antagonistic approach appears to have been adopted; one that it is hard to imagine is in the best interests of the SPFL’s member clubs.”

Rangers – who have previously insisted that they continue to abide by all League rules – came under fierce criticism from SPFL chairman Murdoch MacLennan earlier this month amid fears that cinch could pull the plug on their lucrative sponsorship deal.

The Ibrox board insist that rule I7 of the SPFL states that member clubs are ‘not obliged to comply with this rule if to do so would result in that club being in breach of a contractual obligation entered into prior to the commercial contract concerned' and have accused the Hampden hierarchy of blowing £500,000 of League funds on agency fees to secure the five-year deal.

Park has now put the ball firmly back in the court of the SPFL with his legal action and a spokesperson for Park’s of Hamilton said: “We can confirm that Park’s of Hamilton Holdings Ltd has today been successfully granted an interim interdict at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, to prevent the SFA from proceeding with its arbitration process in relation to the sponsorship of the SPFL.

“For the purposes of Park's interim interdict application, the Court considered that the failure to include Park's went against the SFA's own rules. This ruling now prevents the SFA from proceeding with an arbitration process without Park’s of Hamilton being involved.

“We were surprised that both the SFA and SPFL vehemently argued against this petition, despite the fact that their rules clearly state that any arbitration process should feature all interested parties.

“Park’s is proud of its association with the SFA and Scottish football, which dates back over 50 years, so it is with regret that we were forced to take this action.

“This is a decision we did not take lightly but felt it had to be made as a matter of principle, to protect the rights of club sponsors throughout all levels of the game.”

The SFA and SPFL declined to comment when approached by Herald and Times Sport on Monday.