The Scottish Premiership match between Rangers and Dundee has been rescheduled for April 10 live on Sky Sports. The game was postponed late on March 17 and the SPFL is now looking into the matter. The new date of the match comes three days after a crucial Old Firm showdown at Ibrox.
Rangers’ rescheduled match against Dundee is scheduled on April 10 at Dens Park. The original match was canceled with less than two hours to go before kickoff.
The game, which kicks off at 8 p.m. on Sky Sports, takes place three days after a crucial Old Firm encounter between Celtic and Rangers, which is also shown live on Sky Sports, pits the teams against one other for the Scottish Premiership championship.
After playing one less game than Celtic, Philippe Clement’s team is now one point behind them. They will next take on Ross County on April 14, live on Sky Sports, before the league is divided into a top and bottom half.
In their own battle to finish in the top six, Dundee is now two points behind Hibernian, despite having a game in hand. Following the rescheduled match against Rangers, they play Motherwell and Aberdeen.
The SPFL is looking into the decision to postpone the original game after Dens Park’s fourth cancellation of the season.
Don Robertson, referee for Dundee vs Rangers, explains why the match was called off
The primary area of concern, according to match official Robertson, was in front of one of the dugouts; it had been covered with sand, but it was still too wet to be considered safe.
“I was aware Dundee and the ground staff were working very hard on that specific area of the pitch as well as others causing them concern,” he said.
“But unfortunately, what they’ve been able to do hasn’t been enough to make the area safe for the players and that’s the primary consideration in these matters. I know they’ve got a lot of sand, tried to remove some of the water, but it wasn’t safe at 10.15am so unfortunately it’s been postponed.
“We’re guided by the home club in this situation. They will have first sight of the pitch, they arrived this morning and saw areas of concern and contacted the league and the Scottish FA.
“A local official came to do a primary pitch inspection, but it was agreed between the clubs and the SPFL that they would wait until 10.15am to conduct the final inspection of the pitch.”
Rangers posted a strongly worded statement on their website claiming that they were unaware of any possible problems with Dens Park’s playing surface until Sunday morning, and they questioned why the concerns had not been brought up earlier.
“Rangers, on behalf of our supporters, are extremely disappointed and angered with the late call-off of today’s match,” they said.
“The first team prepared for the game as usual, and no worries about the playing surface were voiced until this morning.
Given the recurring problems the home team has had with their playing surface at previous stages of the season, it is unclear why they did not voice those concerns sooner.
By the time a decision was made, many of our followers and the Rangers squad had already gathered at the stadium.
“This is the only match in the entire UK senior leagues to be postponed this weekend, and given it was to be shown on Sky Sports nationwide, reflects poorly on our game.”
Clement: It’s a crazy situation
Rangers manager Philippe Clement told Sky Sports:
“I’m very, very, very disappointed in many ways. We didn’t know anything that there was a problem, nobody contacted us, not yesterday evening, not overnight or this morning. Our kit man was here early and he told us there was the problem.
“That’s a really strange thing for me. Secondly, I think it will be the only game in all the leagues in Scotland postponed [today]. That’s a crazy situation. If you are playing in the Scottish Premiership, you should be playing with the highest standards and the best pitches also.
“The television pays a lot of money to broadcast it, fans pay a lot of money to attend, and now the game is postponed – it’s a really strange situation.”
Dundee owner Nelms: We did everything we could
Although Tony Docherty was sorry that Dundee’s home game against Rangers had to be postponed, he acknowledges that officials have a duty to do.
Owner of Dundee John Nelms said to Sky Sports:
“We have men here since five in the morning, and we’re supposed to be among the world’s most active leagues. The ball is rolling. Mother Nature has taken her course, and we have made every effort to position this pitch correctly.
As we speak, there are two little areas where the ball isn’t bouncing. The remainder of the field is in good condition, but as of right now, they don’t believe we’ll be able to make it playable before 12 p.m.
In pictures: Why Rangers’ trip to Dundee was called off
Dundee return to Scottish Premiership action after the international break at home to St Johnstone on March 30, while Rangers face Hibs at Ibrox. Both games kick off at 3pm.
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