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DAVE KING arrived at Ibrox fit and proper this morning and made the Rangers dealings with Sports Direct a priority for his new regime.

Rangers were handed a £5,500 fine by the SFA last month over Mike Ashley’s controversial involvement on Edmiston Drive.

They were hit with a five grand penalty for failing to “behave towards the SFA and other members with the utmost good faith” and an additional £500 for issues related to dual ownership by the Newcastle owner.

Ironically, in the bigger picture, the payment of the fine strengthens King’s hand as he takes full control of issues relating to the complex contracts negotiated between Sports Direct and the previous Blue Room regime.

Don’t be surprised if Ashley is challenged in the coming months over the validity and legality of his Rangers contracts like he has never been challenged before.

Who knows, rather than being in hock to the Cockney billionaire to the tune of £5million, Rangers just might argue he actually owes them, opening up the likelihood of a long court battle, from which King will not flinch.

After all, he spent 12 years staring down the South African tax authorities before cutting a deal in 2013 that saw him ultimately convicted of 41 tax convictions, forking out more than £44m in a deal he later described as “a favourable settlement”.

READ: Ashley v King.

No matter, Ashley will not see his £5m any time soon as King is determined to expose deals he already believe throw up more questions than answers.

WATCH OUR LATEST SHOW AFTER KING WAS PASSED FIT & PROPER.

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The ongoing battles with Ashley will form a key part of the boardroom agenda in the short term but there are other even more pressing challenges to confront.

Rangers will know, maybe even as soon as Saturday afternoon, in which league they will be playing next season and a complete overhaul of the football department at Murray Park is on the cards over the summer, no matter what.

Stuart McCall may yet survive and although King has not sanctioned an approach to any other managers at this stage, he knows the importance of the issue, not least with season tickets due for renewal.

Of course, this must all be funded and although a new rights issue will be launched in time, it is more of a medium term project, with immediate financing from King and his supporters most likely on a debt-for-equity basis.

The structure behind the scenes at Ibrox also needs to be addressed with a strong executive management team likely to be put in place in the coming weeks, with key positions such as chief executive, finance director, commercial and operations experts appointed.

The current Rangers board is also politically lightweight. It would come as no surprise if King beefs up his team with more blue chip appointments, perhaps outsiders with financial and business acumen to add to the fans already in place.

Of course, the fallout continues from the decision of the eight-man SFA board to grant King fit and proper status, which was always at their discretion, even if he did not pass two key criteria on paper.

(Image: SNS Group)

King was on the board when Craig Whyte wreaked financial havoc at Rangers and his long-running issues with the tax man could also have seen him fall foul of Hampden powerbrokers such as Peter Lawwell at Celtic and Rod Petrie at Hibs.

King argued forcibly he has provided key information into the ongoing police investigation into the takeover of Rangers by Whyte.

He also produced testimonies from the Court of Session, SARS, his bankers and other government agencies in support of his application.

Indeed, most of King’s business is done with the South African government and if he was so disgraced in his adopted homeland they would be unlikely to grant him the bulk of his work with Micromega Holdings, which oversees areas such as IT, procurement, recruitment and financial services.

King has been the subject of such intense scrutiny, including SFA lawyers who have examined with a microscope the veracity and competence of his claims to be appointed a Rangers director.

The level of their scrutiny was unprecedented - and rightly so - but he passed every examination set.

King will no doubt look on with interest in seasons to come and see if others who are willing to invest in Scottish football are subject to the same vigorous level of investigation.

The SFA have set a benchmark in their dealings with King. They will surely show consistency in similar dealings in future.