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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lochgoilhead bhoy on 7 June, 2012 at 15:25 said:
dirtymac on 7 June, 2012 at 14:29 said:
Sixteen roads to Golgotha on 7 June, 2012 at 14:16 said:
“Were the Kellys etc really that incompetent and indeed financially inept and ultimately impotent? ”
Yes they were incompetent, financially inept and (allegedly) crooks.
+++++
Indeed, but how poor they really were we’ll never know as their exit was somewhat hastened by one team being bankrolled by the bank and ours not. (a dishonourable mention to the bank might also be made when considering the adoption of the Taylor Report in Scotland too – it wasn’t and still isn’t law)
What can’t be disputed though, was that until one club decided massively bank-underwritten debt was the way to go, they were quite successful in putting championship winning sides onto the park.
I also recall the various Celtic Family discount cards, catalogues, etc at the time and thought that the marketing, whilst very poor in comparison to today’s efforts, were very much ahead of most of our competitors at the time.
Ultimately, I think they were happy to win the odd title and (almost literally) sell the rest of the silverware. Which is quite shameful, but perhaps draws parallels to our current custodians?
BTW, I’m no fan of the Old Board, I was just posing the question: were their obvious shortcomings misrepresented on the basis of a skewed comparison?
With thanks to the BBC, the emails produced regarding the “fee quote” of £500k for the administration make it clear what the master plan of Mr Whyte was – newco and the incubator all along!
http://scotslawthoughts.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/revealed-craig-whytes-master-plan-he-came-up-with-the-incubator-company/
There are some good people attempting to change society they should be encouraged rather than pathetic attempts at political point scoring
Larkhall wins Nil By Mouth award to tackle sectarianismA South Lanarkshire town has won an award for its efforts to tackle sectarianism.
Larkhall has become the first area in Scotland to be given the Champion for Change charter mark by Nil By Mouth for its efforts to tackle tensions.
The anti-sectarianism charity said the award recognised “several years of hard work” to unite people from different religious and cultural backgrounds.
The charter mark will be presented to the community on Thursday.
Creative projects
Nil By Mouth said local schools, community groups and church leaders had worked together in Larkhall to promote a range of interfaith services, sporting competitions and creative projects to encourage tolerance and understanding.
Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
The children hope that the message of their music will make a positive and significant difference to their communities”
End Quote
Hazel Shaw
Machan Trust
The award was clinched after a recent concert in St Machan’s Church where pupils performed songs from their CD “Different Voices Best Of Friends”, which conveys their views on bigotry and their hopes for the future.
Nil By Mouth Campaign Director Dave Scott said Larkhall was “more than deserving” of the award.
“We’ve been hugely impressed by the energy, enthusiasm and commitment shown by this community in challenging sectarianism,” he said.
“For too long people have made assumptions about this area and these pupils, teachers and church leaders have stood up and been counted.
“The young people want a chance to define their own identity free from negativity or the baggage of the past. They represent the generation which will defeat sectarianism once and for all.”
Hazel Shaw, from the Machan Trust, the interfaith group which has helped organise events, said: “The children hope that the message of their music will make a positive and significant difference to their communities and to the lives of all who suffer from the negative effects of sectarianism.”
FROM @CELTICRESEARCH
http://twitter.com/CelticResearch/status/210729795779174400/photo/1
Get behind the idea of Larkhall winning an anti-sectarianism award? What, just because SOME of the local community aren’t neanderthal yahoos, stuck in the 15th Century? Nil by Mouth have some brass neck.
Tell you what; I’ll be all of the award when the local parks have the same colour railings as every other park in the land. When the green traffic lights are no longer wearing gratings to protect them from sectarian bigots. When the local Subway changes its logo back to green, and when Lloyds Chemist can do likewise.
You can put sprinkles on a turd. I still won’t eat it.
lionroars67
My father is from Larkhall and still has family there.
It will take more than some crap SNP whitewash to convince them the place is changing.
James Forrest is Neil Lennon! We are ALL Neil Lennon! on 7 June, 2012 at 16:06 said:
Yes lets slaughter all those people in the churches, schools and the community trying to combat deep rooted sectarianism, fools aren’t they! wasting their time
James Forrest:
Not even if the sprinkles are green? :-)
Is the auld “magic incubator” back. An incubator in the shape of a boomerang- it just keeps coming back…ah…the panacea of panacea’s.
After Hunageddon is over there are a few phrases I will never forget & will always bring a smile to my face:
Hybrid Liquidation.
Mad Bill’s incubator.
Craig Whyte’s wealth is “off the radar”
The Big House must stay open, that’s the bottom line.
But the most surreal from some Clown at Holyrood: “Rangers are a great Scottish insitution”. Hahahaha…a think someone had too many babyshams wae eez succulent lamb that day!
lionroars67 on 7 June, 2012 at 16:11 said:
James Forrest is Neil Lennon! We are ALL Neil Lennon! on 7 June, 2012 at 16:06 said:
Yes lets slaughter all those people in the churches, schools and the community trying to combat deep rooted sectarianism, fools aren’t they! wasting their time
+++++
Perhaps you’ll find he’s slaughtering the town of Larkhall, who are the apparent recipients of the prize as opposed to those trying to combat it.
Sorry to be all doom and gloom bhoys but forget it, the games a bogey in this country.
If Stewart Regan thinks CO has dine nothing wrong then what chance do we have.
There is also no point in going about UEFA because they are not interested.
Scottish football is corrupt and it will neve change, anyone who thinks otherwise are kidding themselves on.
James Forrest is Neil Lennon! We are ALL Neil Lennon! on 7 June, 2012 at 16:06 said:
mate mind asda also had to change the colour shocking that place
Rangers Tax-Case@rangerstaxcase
Of course, no one knows for sure, but last season, like the 10 before it, was disfigured by Rangers’ financial shenanigans.
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19m Rangers Tax-Case@rangerstaxcase
Key issue for SFA to consider: if RFC had paid tax to HMRC and slashed costs to stay solvent, how would SPL have finished last season?
skyisalandfill on 7 June, 2012 at 15:33
Found this snippet, talking about Betfair’s free bet offer to new customers.
“Betfair are currently offering £25 free to new customers. The way it works is your first placement will be matched – upto £25 – with 3x free bets – upto £25 – available once you have placed an additional 10, 20 and 30 bets of £5 or more with Betfair.”
Best to check the small print. Sounds like your 1st “placement” (up to £25 max) will be matched by betfair.
I’m not sure, but this may mean, if you’ve deposited £10, they’ll match your £10…
…but you only get your free “matched” £10 after you spent an additional 10 times £5 bets or more. ie it may cost you a min £50 to claim your “prized free bet”.
Will the sfa be held responsible for sponsoring one of their affilliated teams to play in european competition whilst cheating.
When the EBT decision is declared, european teams defeated in competition by corrupt fc, have the right to sue for compensation, the sfa being the responsible body for protecting the integrity interests on behalf of uefa.
Maybe ogilvie is the right man to face this.
hen1rik. I think you have hit the nail on the head Scottish football is corupt and we Celtic supporters are in the minority.Anything we say will be looked on with scorn this is all about the peepil and they will not be allowed to go under rules will be bent and broken to assure they survive in one form or another.Anyone who thinks differently imo is going to have a very big disappointment.H.H.
B.Celtic or D.City.
To quote Bournesouprecipe,
” Leopards can’t squeeze their spots”.
No matter what happens to them, the more they are punished, the greater will be the retribution.
They are the fabric, so don’t let any of us forget it.
An excellent riposte , Paul 67 to the outpouring of nonsense from brother Regan yesterday.
To summarise Regan and the SFA’s stance it would be:
We make the rules, we reserve the right to change the rules at any time and without notification, and rule number one is that we alone do not have to abide by any of the rules.
Ogilvies continued involvement at the SFA is scandalous and Regan is becoming almost as scandalous. It’s high time FIFA stepped in.
They are the fabric
Indeed, hence the term “touching the cloth”. (thumbsup)
Bada Bing is the mad men series finished i to like it great cast
philvisreturns on 7 June, 2012 at 16:34 said:
They are the fabric
Indeed, hence the term “touching the cloth”. (thumbsup)
———————————————————————————————
Ah! The fabric of the old rolled up trouser leg………………..
@Pmacgiollabhain: RT @BBCAlLamont: Dave King calls for Rangers fans to oppose Charles Green’s CVA
Anyone know what this all about.
I was speaking to a young from Larkhall- who no longer lives there- who visits his father occassionally: he said he seen a couple of guys walking down the High Street with Celtic Strips on.
“you would never have seen that in the 90s…they would have been stabbed or something.”
Progress indeed.
These guys could well have been Protestants anyway. We are now seen by many as the acceptable side of the “Old Firm” tag. No matter what some misguided commentators say about der huns perception & status in Scotland.
Our support is the only one increasing in Scotland. Even more so outside our the traditional heartland of the Glasgow Metropolis.
I’ll tell you another thing, 3 months it took ND to get info from D&P regarding dual contracts.
Just in time for shredding vans to be appointed.
The SFA are a corrupt organisation and they will never change
Do you know what i laugh at the most, how others from the outside look at SR and ND, they are puppets and they don’t have the balls to do the decent thing.
They both may think that burying their head in the sand to save the hun and it will all go away then they are deluded because any sensible person will know how corrupt they are and Scottish Football.
This is what Green wants rangers to be. A clearing house for players his consortium own.
June 7 – The increasing involvement of Qatar in European club football has taken another significant step forward with the takeover by the country’s Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) – one of the world’s most sophisticated sports facilities – of Belgian second division club KAS Eupen.
Last year, Qatar Sports Investments – established in 2005 by Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, son of the Emir – bought a 70 per cent stake in Paris St Germain, turning the French club into one of the richest in Europe.
Qatar owned Al Jazeera, meanwhile, is rapidly becoming one of the biggest players in the pay-television market.
The takeover of little-known Eupen, however, is designed more as a means to allow Qatari youth football to develop, as well as aiding those in developing countries rather than Qatar, which hosts the World Cup in 2022, becoming a major player on the European stage.
One of main goals of the multi-sport Aspire Zone, a multi-million dollar complex on the outskirts of Doha, is to enhance its ‘Football Dreams’ programme courtesy of a massive talent search across three continents.
Those selected go on a special training course and graduates are henceforth placed with Eupen.
“Qatar has the means and the resources to contribute to development in other countries that don’t have these resources,” Ivan Bravo (pictured below, far right), director general of Qatar’s Aspire Academy, told Reuters.
lennon’s passion
King is another one who thinks he is owed shares in rangers from Whyte.
fanadpatriot
As I said, I didn’t like it myself and I don’t need to give anyone a break any more than you do, thanks.
leftclicktic on 7 June, 2012 at 16:28 said:
And this is the crux of the matter ,if CW had paid HMRC ragers would not have fulfilled all their SPL fixtures last season .
So therefore they should not even have been in the league ,never mind be given 2nd place prize money from the shysters at the SPL and the SFA should be dealing with that .
One of the SFA’s member clubs (Dunfermline ) was relegated ,when it should have been ragers booted out .How the Dunfermline fans are not beating down Yorkston’s door and demanding he do something is beyond me .
IMO if it was his team going down because of the Celtic he would be going ape HH
timbhoy2@1634
Is English your second language?
HH
ABZMike
I believe it’s just there in case it fails.
Anyone seen this????
HM Revenue and Customs have arranged for liquidators to be appointed at Rangers should administrators fail to rescue the club.
The tax authorities agreed the plan with current administrators Duff and Phelps, it was revealed on Thursday.
Insolvency firm BDO have been lined up by HMRC should the current attempts to get the Ibrox club out of administration fail and they are put into liquidation.
The move was made by HMRC in April after Duff and Phelps produced their proposals to remain in post, which those owed money had to vote on.
On Thursday the administrators released the proposals approved by creditors, which originally asked them to rubber-stamp the appointment of Duff and Phelps as liquidators of Rangers should a proposed company voluntary arrangement (CVA) fail.
The result of the creditors vote in April has also given the administrators power to “conclude a sale of the whole, or part of the business, property or assets of the company” without needings creditors permission, should the proposed CVA be successful.
Now, should the CVA proposal funded by an £8.5m loan from the Sevco consortium led by Charles Green fail to receive the backing of creditors, the neutral insolvency firm would be called in.
This would be in the case of the compulsory court-ordered winding up of the crisis-hit club, or if a creditors voluntary liquidation (CVL) took place as part of a ‘newco’ switch.
According to documents released last week, in the event of the CVA failing, the consortium is “contractually obliged” to pay £5.5m for the “business and assets” of Rangers, which would be transferred to a completely different business entity, before the existing one is liquidated.
The details of the newco deal are “confidential” and it is unclear whether the money to fund it would also take the form of a loan with interest.
BDO and HMRC refused to comment on the agreement reached over the situation at the Glasgow club, which was plunged into administration on February 14 having failed to pay £14m in PAYE and VAT since Craig Whyte bought an 85% stake in the club in May 2011.
Hail hail
Dave King also says he’s making a claim against club for the full amount of his investment, based on “deliberate non-disclosure by David Murray of transactions that he had committed to on behalf of the club that were both risky and to the sole advantage of the Murray Group”
DK: “I also believe that all true Rangers fans should not buy any season tickets until full and frank disclosure has been provided by Duff & Phelps, Mr Green, and Mr Whyte, as to what is truly going on behind the scenes.”
Paul 67
A brilliant article from you today and with such clarity – thank you. The Scottish media should be embarrased and ashamed of themselves for actually printing the interview with Regan in today’s newspapers without a single one of them asking the most obvious question which you have posited above and which leapt off the page when I read it in the Herald this morning: “Who gave you the feedback Mr. Regan?”.
The fact that Campbell Ogilvie remains in place as President of the SFA is Scotland’s Shame. An utter disgrace.
NO GREEN AND WHYTE AT IBROX
I have continued to observe the lack of progress in the attempts to resolve the crisis at Ibrox. I hoped that a “supportable” proposal would emerge from an individual or grouping that would meet the needs of the club. I see those needs comprising of four main components;
1.Any offer should demonstrate the capacity to not only acquire the club but to invest in the club going forward.
2.Any offer should be supported by the requisite business skills to ensure that the recent crisis is not repeated.
3.Any offer should recognise that the club cannot be run on purely business principles. The club has a “soul”, a history, and a tradition going back 140 years. Our children and grandchildren are entitled to the same legacy that our father’s and grandfather’s bequeathed to us.
4.Any offer should recognise that the fans are key stakeholders in the club, whether they are shareholders or not.
In my view the CVA proposal that is being put forward for consideration by Duff & Phelps fails to demonstrate compliance with any of the above criteria. I accept the possibility that Duff and Phelps may know more than is contained in the CVA proposal, but if that is the case, why the lack of transparency? Duff & Phelps have earned enormous sums as administrators and have had sufficient time to ensure that full disclosure is made with any offer.
One practical difficulty that Duff and Phelps has is that their prime responsibility is to those stakeholders that have a legal claim on the company. This excludes the many fans who are important stakeholders but not shareholders. This leads me to some specific concerns about the CVA proposal;
1.It is clear from the CVA proposal that Mr Green intends to repeat Mr Whyte’s strategy of using season ticket sales to fund the club. This would put fans back in the position of funding the club without owning it.
2.I made it clear to Duff and Phelps that I regard the Whyte acquisition of the shares from the Murray Group as being fraudulent and that myself and every other minority shareholder (all fan shareholders) have been prejudiced by this. The CVA gives no recognition to this difficulty and to what reparation will be made to those shareholders who have been abused by the terms of the sale to Mr Whyte.
3.I also advised Duff & Phelps that I was making a claim against the club for the full amount of my investment based on the deliberate non-disclosure by David Murray of transactions that he had committed to on behalf of the club that were both risky and to the sole advantage of the Murray Group. I have made that claim but Duff & Phelps have at this stage ignored my representations.
4.If it becomes necessary for me to prove my claim I intend to enlist the support of the other fans, like me, who are shareholders in order to ensure that we are all considered and represented. I further advised Duff & Phelps that any proceeds received in respect of my claim will be reinvested, in full, back into the club. I am sure that all other aggrieved investors (that are fans) will do likewise. This will ensure that a substantial portion of the funds used to acquire the club will still be available to invest in its future.
5.Mr Whyte gave me first right of refusal on his shares on the 29th September 2011. Andrew Ellis subsequently advised me that Mr Whyte had personally advised him about my first right of refusal but that Mr Ellis had a prior right to 24,9% of the shareholding from Mr Whyte. Based on my own history of dealings with Mr Whyte I have no reason to doubt Mr Ellis’s version. Either way, Mr Green cannot acquire the shares.
It is not my intention, and I know Mr Ellis feels the same, to get in the way of a properly structured and a properly funded transaction that meets the needs of all stakeholders, including the fans.
In my view, based on previous discussions with Mr Whyte, it is unlikely in the extreme that he would sell “his” shares to Mr Green for a nominal sum (even if he hadn’t committed them to me) unless he was obtaining some benefit or retaining some control behind the scenes. Duff & Phelps non-communicative approach to stakeholders causes me further concern in that regard.
I am opposing the CVA and urge all loyal fans to do the same. We don’t want to be back in a similar situation next season. I also believe that all true Rangers fans should not buy any season tickets until full and frank disclosure has been provided by Duff & Phelps, Mr Green, and Mr Whyte, as to what is truly going on behind the scenes.
Dave King
Johannesburg
7th June 2012
I sense a change of mood today on CQN an awakening if you like some are begining to realise we are watching a plan being played out across the city.We are begining to realise this is not about fairness or sporting integrity anyone who still thinks that is having the wool pulled over there eyes.We are begining to realise our view of what is happening are being ignored and we are impotent in this evolving story of cheating and coruption.H.H.
Good evening friends. Chucking it down in ole EK.
paul 67
Great article again
Just e-mailed the sfa ,with my complaint about the 2 incharge,(dont wait for an answer.)
SFA ROTTEN TO THE CORE
Sir Paul.
Heracles’ next assignment?
Clean up,Letherby Drive.
D’ye think He kin handle it? Ah dae.
Dirty Joab..but, somebuddy needs tae dae it.
Heracles, is the very man, fur He hiz Previous Experience at daein’ that sorta thing.
Kojo
Still, Laughin’