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Rangers legend Sandy Jardine insists Scottish Football Association sanctions would destroy the competitive nature of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League as well as crippling the club.

The SFA's judicial panel hit the Ibrox side with a fine of £160,000 and a 12-month embargo on registering players over 17 after they were found guilty of five charges in relation to their finances and the appointment of Craig Whyte as chairman.

Rangers administrators are appealing the decision but, if upheld, Jardine believes the punishment would have ramifications for all clubs in the SPL.

He said: "You would get a situation, which we are in at this moment in time, where, before the split has even taken place, that Celtic have basically won the league.

"You would have an uncompetitive league and that has implications for everybody.

"You have a lack of interest, there is not the same immediate coverage, supporters will drift off because everything has more or less been decided.

"Does everybody else want to see Celtic win the league by 30 points? Because that's the reality if Rangers are putting out a team of kids and are uncompetitive.

"What has kept Scottish football going over the last 10 years is how competitive it has been between Rangers and Celtic."

The former defender, who works behind the scenes at Ibrox, is furious the club is being punished for what he believes are solely the actions of owner Whyte.

Rangers were forced to call in the administrators on February 14 over an unpaid tax bill accrued since Whyte's takeover last May.

Jardine said: "It wasn't Rangers Football Club, it was Craig Whyte who put us in this situation and that has to be emphasised.

"I'm still at the club, I worked under Craig Whyte, and I have to say that nobody knew that he wasn't paying bills. It was as big a shock to us as to everybody in Scottish football.

"The players did nothing wrong, the management of the club did nothing wrong, the supporters did nothing wrong and the staff did nothing wrong.

"The person that did wrong was Craig Whyte and unfortunately he's getting a penalty which he's laughed off.

"They'll never get the money but the people still at this club are going to have to pay a penalty because of that.

"I know from talking to the supporters, and the feeling within the club is, that we can't do any more than put our case forward.

"Rangers are a special case mainly because of the size of the club within Scottish football and what it delivers.

"We'll get a bit of pain, but everybody else is going to get a bit of pain too."

Jardine added: "The SFA are taking sanctions against us, on Monday we could get sanctions from the SPL and then we are maybe getting another sanction from the tax case.

"How many people want to have a kick at Rangers when they're down?

"If you look at England, Portsmouth got a bit of help. What help have we had?

"Everybody at the club realises that we have to have some sort of sanctions but these sanctions are very, very severe."

Jardine was speaking at the launch of a sponsored walk aimed at raising funds for the Rangers Fans Fighting Fund.