Ibrox’s Leaking Of The Sky Deal Put It At Risk. That Cannot Go Unanswered.

We all know now that the Sky deal has been passed and approved.

Nevertheless, Ibrox’s obstructionism jeopardised the contract.

There should be no talk about moving on until that simple fact has been tackled.

Two days ago, Aberdeen released a statement on the Sky deal which was designed to do two things.

First, it was designed to put that deal into some kind of context after weeks of negative stories about it, and the second was to make public what must be a wider dissatisfaction with the activities of the club from across the city.

In short, it was a public rebuke to them.

The clarity on what the deal represents was good and welcome.

We now know that the idea of selling a complete every game package to a broadcaster – which is what some leagues do, and thus they get more money for the deal overall – is not something Scottish clubs have any interest in.

Aberdeen was correct to highlight that the payment per game ratio is higher for Scotland than it is for elsewhere.

This kind of clarity was useful to us all in properly evaluating this.

Ibrox fan sites have made a pitiful effort to spin the facts; here’s what all of them completely overlook. If this deal had collapsed and Sky walked away, then Scottish football had virtually no chance of getting a deal on the level they were offering.

In order to get a better deal from elsewhere Sky has to be at the table. That’s just a fact. It is Sky who sets the benchmark figure and if they aren’t in the bidding then there’s no incentive for anyone else to make an offer of substance.

This whole debate was not about value, it was about Ibrox flexing muscle and its continuing war against the governing bodies.

Aberdeen are not the only club who realised that this war could have immense consequences, but they were the first to say something publicly about it.

But it’s evident from their statement that the anger is about more than just the opposition to the deal.

They were furious that the details of the deal were in the public domain when clubs were still being briefed on it. This was a massive breach of corporate confidentiality and especially when the details weren’t just leaked but spun so aggressively.

Everyone now knows who leaked those details to the press, and we didn’t need Aberdeen’s statement to make that clear.

But that statement specifically blasted that leak so they understand that such a thing could have had enormous negative commercial consequences. It is simply unacceptable for a club to behave like this.

The leak alone could have jeopardised the deal, even without their obstructionist behaviour.

The leak, along with the negativity which went with it, all designed to get the media and the fans to oppose the offer without properly understanding it, was such a retrograde move that I am frankly amazed that the broadcaster didn’t just bail.

And once again, that requires a robust response from the governing body.

Aberdeen’s anger suggests that for once that response might be forthcoming.

It should be.

Ibrox’s behaviour placed this deal in real doubt and the breach of commercial sensitivity was as severe a break with their responsibilities to the rest of the clubs as you could realistically get.

That really should not go unanswered. It must not go unanswered.