Scotland suffer Euros injury setback as SFA chief rushed for emergency surgery

MIKE MULRANEY has vowed to do all he can to get stricken SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell to Euro 2024.

The Hampden official emerged as Scotland‘s latest injury doubt for the tournament after undergoing emergency eye surgery – which means he can’t fly to Germany.

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But SFA president Mulraney, speaking after the game’s governing body agreed a new Scottish Cup TV deal with Premier Sports and the BBC, hopes he can somehow get him there.

He said: “We’re hopeful we can get him to at least one game.

“Like everything around Scotland we are concerned about the injuries.

“And our board is no different to our playing team!

“It’s vital we get him there if we at all can.

“He is obviously missed and working from his sickbed.

“While he is maybe not here today he will be on the phone to me as soon as I’m finished.

“So we hope we will get him there.”

Maxwell stayed at home as Mulraney met clubs at Hampden at yesterday’s AGM, where he briefed them on the new TV deal.

The news came just 24 hours after the SPFL secured a similar agreement with Premier Sports to show 20 more Premiership games next season.

Mulraney claimed the five-year agreement, believed to be in the region of £20million, further shows critics the game is in robust health.

He said: “In a market where TV deals are getting harder throughout Europe and the world and everybody knows you are having to give more for less, Scotland is in a position where our guys have negotiated a 33 per cent uplift over the five-year period.

“That’s unprecedented, it’s incredible when you are lifting that kind of money.

“It’s bucking the trend, and it’s reflective of where Scotland are as a nation and where our football is.

“Criticism is easy for folk who don’t know what they’re talking about.

“The bottom line is that we’re not only doing well, but we are doing well in an environment where everybody is struggling.

“One valid criticism is always the fact that we are in a period of restricted incomes and so forth, and people are asking how many avenues to watch football can there be?

“How many times are we going to have to pay?

“The fact that we are working so closely on the sixth floor (with the SPFL at Hampden) means we’re in a situation now where effectively to watch Scottish football, you’ve got free-to-air and Sky and Premier Sports.

“That’s an absolutely fantastic story, there’s only two avenues you are having to pay, and I think that is good news.”

Member clubs showed they agree by voting to DOUBLE the salaries of Mulraney, vice-president Les Gray and non-executive directors Alison McGregor and Malcolm Kpedekpo.

The move followed an independent audit that recommend the increase, which brings the SFA more in line with other sports.

Mulraney and Gray have already agreed to defer the rise for 12 months.

But in order to be competitive with other sports and business when it comes to landing top people he claimed the audit was the right thing to do.

He said: “We need to make sure we can attract the best independent non-executive directors and best candidates.

“We’re the biggest sport, we’re the ones who are going to change the landscape of the nation’s sport.

“I think I’ve got the best but I’ll be looking for better.”

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