Campbell Ogilvie was an executive director of Rangers for the first five years of their Employee Benefit Trusts and during their earlier illegally-executed tax avoidance Discount Options Scheme. He received a ‘loan’ from a Rangers EBT, which he has not repaid and is not expected to repay, and recently described his company responsibilities during this period to a friendly journalist as being administrative, and then legislative.
He has been a director of the SFA for 22 years and is now president.
During the period when Ogilvie was director of both Rangers and the SFA the club illegally registered dozens of footballers with the SFA. All directors are responsible for actions of a company, executive directors especially so. Those who represent themselves as having administrative and legislative roles, absolutely so.
SFA chief executive, Stewart Regan, yesterday defended Ogilvie’s shameless refusal to resign by offering a defence which echoed Rangers ‘Craig Whyte acted alone’ defence, which was comprehensively dismissed by the SFA Judicial Tribunal.
Regan said, “We have had very clear feedback that the president was not involved in any letter or correspondence with regards to player EBTs.
“We are all aware of businesses being run where you have one owner and operator running the club and a number of directors sitting below. The way this process has been managed, a lot of this correspondence was done much higher up the chain than Campbell Ogilvie.”
This is cringe-worthy nonsense and gets to the heart of the lack of corporate governance at the SFA. Mr Regan is not qualified to assure us that Mr Ogilvie has no case to answer. That is not a judgement for him to make and is certainly not an inference that can be made on the basis of private comments from Mr Ogilvie or other former Rangers directors similarly contaminated by this issue.
Before the chief executive can state as fact how Rangers conducted their business, and the limited involvement of Mr Ogilvie, some form of inquiry must have taken place. No such inquiry happened.
“We have had very clear feedback”, said Mr Regan. Who is “we”, was it an independent panel that received this feedback, or did Mr Regan deal with this personally? Who gave the feedback? Was Mr Ogilvie subject to the same independent scrutiny as anyone else in the game, from Neil Lennon to Craig Whyte, or was this passed off with a handshake?
Mr Regan’s failure to recognise the serious corporate governance failures in his conduct is alarming. We don’t need this guy to know the offside rule but he has to understand good corporate governance requires questions against your president to be openly and independently investigated.
When these are our standards, what else is the executive turning a blind eye to?
Mr Regan was careful to limit his claim on what Mr Ogilvie was not party to. “We have had very clear feedback that the president was not involved in any letter or correspondence with regards to player EBTs” sounds like a substantial piece of information but it’s not.
This only claims that Mr Ogilvie did not author any side letter or contract relating to an EBT, which is not in doubt. The important issue is clearly Mr Ogilvie knew dozens of players had EBTs, he knew football players’ remuneration is subject to detailed written contracts and he knew all money paid to a player, from any source, in relation to football, must be detailed on his contract and registered with the SFA.
For Rangers players’ EBTs to be consistent with SFA and Fifa requirements they would need to be completely discretionary, an optional extra the players were unable to rely on. Mr Ogilvie, the Great Football Administrator, knew all of this.
Instead of good corporate governance we appear to have a self-certified president – we know Mr Ogilvie did nothing wrong because Mr Ogilvie said he did nothing wrong. He is at once, a Great Football Administrator and unaware of the football administration actions of the company he was legally responsible for.
Ogilvie was an executive director of Rangers. It was his responsibility as a director of Rangers to ensure that the club contracts and legislative responsibilities were conducted in a proper manner. He was simultaneously a director of the SFA. It was his responsibility as a director of the SFA to ensure the Association was run in an even-handed manner, that one club – his club or any other – could not load the dice.
Regan went on to say “Since February 14 he has had no involvement at all in any board meetings, any decisions or any meetings with the club.”
It is reassuring that he has withdrawn from an important part of the legislative process of the SFA but his prominent participation in yesterday’s AGM confirms that his influence in other areas remains.
Regan added “[EBTs] are illegal if they are used knowingly in an incorrect manner. That is something we are still waiting for facts on. But I am satisfied that Campbell has discharged his duty of care. He has done everything we could have asked of him and, so far as his integrity is concerned, he is a man with many years as a highly respected administrator across the game of football in Scotland.”
“So far as his integrity is concerned….many years …. respected administrator”. Those words may bring to mind all those years Ogilvie was at Ibrox while Rangers sectarian signing policy was in place.
Regan dismissed calls for his own resignation, no doubt confident he can self-certify his performance.
I am hugely reluctant to open a political debate, but does the painful lack of accountability and scrutiny in Scotland not alarm you? The actions (inactions) of Ogilvie and Regan would never be accepted in England, where structures exist to hold officials to account. As a relic from Rangers sectarian signing policy days, Ogilvie would be regarded as an embarrassing dinosaur, he would never be made president! The ability for officials to state facts without an inquiry would never be tolerated.
We look more like a rotten borough than a country with the mechanisms necessary to nurture a successful state. Where’s your voice now, Mr Salmond?
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Steviebhoy66
Apparently the huns can do what ever they like.
ASonOfDan-I went off Wenger after the Eduardo fiasco,but they are one of the few clubs in football who have played the game within fair financial rules.
Is Juarez away right enough?
ASonOfDan on 7 June, 2012 at 13:51 said:
Slight addition needed to that report in brackets.
Gazidis also revealed that he had sat on the working group that developed the FFP proposals, which aim to stop clubs running up huge losses that are often paid off by their billionaire owners [or the taxpayers.]
one hour ago…
@TLOPG
@CQN I have three Category 1 tickets for #ROI v Croatia (sat next to me) for sale at cost I paid (face value + UEFA fees) RT please?
Rivaldo seen coming out of an Estate Agents in Bath St with the guy thats runs the sausage van behind the Rangers end….
Not everying in modern life is the result of conspiracy. Sometimes people are just plain ole rubbish at doing what they do. This can apply to football teams, players, managers, referees and administrators.
Chris
mirrormirroronthewallCSC
TopCorner
Could you book it for tully57 nephew, please? I will mail to the guys.
Sub……..
………….but can they be rubbish…AND conspirin’ agin us??
Eh!?
Tell us!
Modern life is average.
Excellent stuff, Paul67. But can we do anything about such appalling behaviour? How can we bring them all to book?
Zbyszek
i will try !!
lets see what happens
44 days to go…
BhoyinEngland on 7 June, 2012 at 12:20 said:
It is time to clear house. UEFA should be taking control until such time as Scottish clubs get together to appoint a completely new hierarchy to run the game.
It is hierarchy that causes and exacerbates corruption. Corruption is always maintained by the highest levels refusing to acknowledge corruption- even instigating and encouraging it if it promotes their interests. Corruption can only be corrected by a higher level that has the necessary appetite for transparency, so where we have corruption it is aggravated and envenomed by those in positions of power. These sources of power resist transparency by a refusal to co-operate- in general this is true of all power systems based on hierarchical models- authority figures, particularly at the highest levels, have compromised on so much they have exhausted any integrity and are so morally damaged to the extent that they have no capacity for recognising the truth. The paradox is that this “damage” makes them more qualified as a representative of an organisation: an organisations only concern is a protection of its own interests by means of maintaining its power base.
The reality is that all organisations are opposed to democracy, in its purest “original” form- this is a strange paradox of an industrial developed modern society. Even modern democracy is only a ghostly simulacrum of its ancient source, a counterfeit imitation that only marginally echoes the spirit of the direct participation in Athenian Democracy.
But all this is academic: the state of things wont change- all we can do is to put better men, who are less morally damaged, and with a greater capacity for truth in these positions of power.
Regan. Doncaster. Ogilvie and those in the ilk of the Wig are certainly not those men of suitable character and moral integrity we need to promote greater transparency- men who can balance private self-interest and the need for Truth; those who have the courage to battle corruption at lower levels of the game,and for the overall good of Scottish football at every level.
Rant over.
“The Bank of Scotland informed Celtic that it was calling in the receivers on Thursday 3 March 1994 as a result of exceeding a £5 million overdraft.”
They just couldn’t wait to try to close Celtic down for good,and all over a paltry £5million over-draft.
Do you want to know one thing that annoys me about this charade?
The role played by that organisation during the Murray years – See Murray never invested a shilling of his own money into RFC(IA) – pardon the pun,but they were being bank-rolled to the tune of tens of millions of pounds,in loans,by the Bank of Scotland.
Murray’s famous quote should have been – “For every fiver they(Celtic)spend,The Bank of Scotland will spend a tenner.”
If anyboby needs investigated,it is those criminals whom were running the said cabal at that time.
Steinreignedsupreme on 7 June, 2012 at 14:12 said:
Modern life is average.
——————————
Modern love is sooooperb
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJCBYUKMvMQ
Z
no further progess, sadly…
just chat in past hour…
______________________________
TLOPG @TLOPG
@KevinMacklin @CQN Might have one spare for Spain game, but won’t be definite until next week when I know for sure what family are coming
1h TLOPG TLOPG @TLOPG
@mikehoops67 I did get it mate, thanks for that. I had already tweeted them actually, to see if were interested and ask for a RT. Cheers
1h TLOPG TLOPG @TLOPG
@pduffy1888 I do indeed still have them mate, would be a pleasure to help an Annagry man out, I’m from Dungloe. Follow to DM if interested.
______________________________
all the best, TC
Sixteen roads to Golgotha on 7 June, 2012 at 14:16 said:
“The Bank of Scotland informed Celtic that it was calling in the receivers on Thursday 3 March 1994 as a result of exceeding a £5 million overdraft.”
They just couldn’t wait to try to close Celtic down for good,and all over a paltry £5million over-draft.
+++++
It wasn’t for the sake of an overdraft of £5m; it was for exceeding it. At the end of a period where we’d played one weekend home game in around 10 weeks.
Fact is/was: we could easily have traded out of that position had there been a level (financial) playing field.
I’ve often wondered that the role of the BoS had more to do with the need for Celts for Change, had we known it, than the Old Board.
Were the Kellys etc really that incompetent and indeed financially inept and ultimately impotent? Or did it just seem so when compared to someone who could literally print money?
Paul67 et al
This is the same SFA who managed the unlikely feat of getting the St. Andrews flag banned from flying above Hampden during the Olympics. This ban has now been lifted, no thanks to the SFA it must be said, though Alex Salmond did make a bit of a song and dance about it. Now, no Celtic supporter will take the banning of national flags lightly, but the point is, unlike Celtic, the SFA did.
Salmond, last seen at St Paul’s Cathedral celebrating Elizabeth’s sixty years on the throne, is unlikely to involve himself in Scotland’s national sport, it is not as if it is part of the fabric of society or anything like that. And what of his fellow travellers, Henry (too important to fail) McLeish, conspicuous by his absence, or Murdo Fraser (or is it Fraser Murdo), whose silence is deafening. Where are they now?
TopCorner
Thanks
I don’t know about anyone else, but right now it feels to me like the pressure that had been building to a head has found as escape valve. Towards the end of the season it seemed like every day brought fresh new allegations and evidence that the media couldn’t ignore. I had the feeling then that there was no way they could escape even with a compliant media and SPL/SFA. There was just too much flying at them to cope with.
Now it feels like the storm has passed, they are still there and the “no to newco” campaign, the RTC articles, the Mark Daly documentaries, the CQN, AThomo and Phil Mac exclusives are running out of ammo.
The media, which were being backed into a corner to report the truth, have had a chance to get back on message.
I hope and pray there is, as was hinted by BarcaBhoy a while back, a massive story still to come out. At the moment that seems doubtful.
I can feel the heat of Paul’s outrage coming from my computer screen ( it could be a radiation right enuff).
I’ve only been following CQN for a year or so but reading that article I can say I have never encountered such an excoriating or incandescent piece of writing from Paul.
Outrage is a power that can be harnessed & used as a spur for Justice.
If we keep fighting we will win. We have a huge advantage: we have Truth on our side. All they have is a determination to hide in the shadows of a wall of lies- we can take it apart brick by brick until the light starts to shine through the breaches.
Deniabhoy
I think patience is called for here.
Barcabhoy’s not usually far off the mark and he seemed pretty convinced the next big story would dwarf everything else that’s gone before about the huns.
Nuclear, was the word he used.
Patience my friends.
Corporate Governante.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qykUdp4qRXE#!
Something to lighten the mood.
The english team arrived at their hotel yesterday. I don’t think they were expecting the greeting they got !!!
Very funny, watch it all, it’s worth it.
Apologies if already posted.
CelticResearch @CelticResearch
And there you have it. BDO nominated by HMRC as liquidators. Not a dodgy rumour.
Retweeted by Celtic 67Live
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voguepunter on 7 June, 2012 at 14:19:
Sadly not one of my favourite Bowie tracks – although I am a big fan of his output in the 1970s.
Without wishing to sound to old – Modern Love is still so much better than most of the tunes around these days…
ToneLoc on 7 June, 2012 at 14:43 said:
I just read that on twitter and came here to ask: What does it mean? IS it a dodgy rumour?
•-:¦:-•** -:¦:- sparkleghirl :¦:-.•**• -:¦:-• on 7 June, 2012 at 14:44 said:
From what I gather HMRC have them in place as liquidators for when the CVA fails on the 14th
DeniaBhoy on 7 June, 2012 at 14:33:
The worst has still to come. The media is just a bit player in all this.
MadraRua
Maybe it’s just me but I found that embarassing. Imagine it had been the other way round?
The most accurate indicator we have of the “moronic morass” within the hun horde then it has to be their collective insistence in calling for Regan’s head & their repeated opposition and protest toward the SFA. Particularly after all we know about the reality of the situation- they are so blinded by bigotry, arrogant delusion, narcissistic deflection, reactionary transference & ill informed judgements from unreliable “leaders” that they are continually attacking their greatest allies in this situation: an “enemy” that are bending over backwards in yogic contortions to accommodate every & any crime they have committed.
yaecouldnaemakeitupCSC
ToneLoc on 7 June, 2012 at 14:46 said:
Thanks. So the end is really nigh this time then. We hope.
Aiden spotted going into Right Move in Bath Street.
Can’t help but notice a lot of people getting itchy feet regarding all things ‘Der Hun.’ Because there has been no ‘news’ as such over the past week it doesn’t mean they are any less likely to crash and burn. When natural events take course they will still be smithered come the day(s) of judgement.
Fear not brothers….
sannabhoy on 7 June, 2012 at 12:31 said:
The Kano Foundation Euro 2012 Predictor
Just signed up.
wonkyradar on 7 June, 2012 at 14:48 said
Exactly mate… I have also been astonished at their vitriol to all things SFA in the past weeks. The irony is lost on them that Regan et al are as you say, bending over backwards to protect them. Even the transfer embargo whilst not in the rule book, was imposed to prevent the authorities from throwing the book at them (expulsion).
The outpouring from the huns on this, with their collective mass of arrogance and bile only confirms something that we have all known from day 1….
They live to hate.
wonkyradar on 7 June, 2012 at 14:48said:
Your description of Der Hun is in fact one that they would embrace.