NEIL LENNON has hit out at Rangers for backing out of the Sydney Super Cup.

The Ibrox club announced yesterday that they would not be competing in the friendly tournament, which would have seen them play Celtic abroad for the first time.

Tickets for the tournament went on sale in mid-March but Rangers claimed organisers were “unwilling to fulfil their commitments” to the Ibrox club.

Now, former Celtic boss, Lennon has hit out at the decision.

He told talkSPORT: “Financially and commercially, it’s a missed opportunity in terms of what it means to both clubs in terms of revenue and obviously selling the profile of both the clubs worldwide.

“They have their reasons behind that. I know there was a lot of disenchantment from both sets of supporters about the game going ahead and it’s a shame because there isn’t a lot of money coming into the Scottish game compared to your top leagues and this was an opportunity to sell the game abroad.

“And for many reasons, Jim [White], as we know, a lot of may be small-minded and then it’s not going to happen. I think it’s a shame.”

Host Jim White then responded: “So Neil says a lot of the reasoning for Rangers not going is ‘small-minded’.

“Simon [Jordan], what’s your take on it? We’ve spoken about this before.

“As I said earlier, it was almost inevitable that they pulled out. But is this not throwing the baby out of the bathwater?”

Jordan added: “First of all, there’s no benefit for the Scottish league for this particular game, the only benefit was for Celtic and Rangers so the other teams in Scotland could probably breathe a collective sigh of relief they’re not going to get another £4million each.”