Will Lord Nimmo Smith’s SPL Commission report this week? I’ve no idea, but as the day draws near it is perhaps worthwhile reminding ourselves of the relevant matters already established by the First Tier Tribunal, which, reportedly, Rangers ‘won’. We will have more excerpts as the week progresses.
The decision was anonymised, so names, such as Mr Black, Mr Violet and Mr Gold are not the actual names of the people involved.
Excerpts from The Decision:
“159
The suggestion made on behalf of Rangers that Mr Black’s involvement did not extend beyond concluding an outline agreement and a specific overall figure, was not borne out in evidence. Given that the burden of proof rested on the Appellants, there was a dearth of evidence available to support the Appellant’s contentions about the nature and stages of the process of agreeing “deals” on the engagement of footballers. Mr Thomson referred to specific individuals. All sub-trust monies had been withdrawn as “loans” except in the case of Mr Gold’s sub-trust.
The side-letters, while not disclosed to the SFA, were in reality part of the player’s contract with the Club.
The players expected to receive the monies paid into trust. Mr Violet believed that the purpose of the Trust was to suit Rangers. So far as he was concerned, his lawyer had reassured him that the arrangement was legal. However, according to Mr Thomson, given that the burden of proof rested on the Appellants, it had not been shown that the side-letter benefits were other than part of the contract of employment of the players.
When recently the tax advantage of trust payments had ceased for Rangers, remuneration due to Messrs Maidstone and Mr Guildford was made via payroll. Rangers had promised to ensure that even if the trust arrangements ceased, alternative arrangements would be made to give the players their agreed net pay. That crucially was the underlying reality.
160
Mr Thomson complained that it was difficult to ascertain whether the player’s contract of employment started with both the disclosed contract and side-letter being signed, or at an earlier stage and then reduced to formal terms, since the taxpayers had disclosed only limited documentation.
The over-arching contract was the contract of employment and the side-letter was part of it. No explanation had been advanced for its being a separate document. The inference was obvious: it was secret and not to be disclosed.
161
Side-letters, of course, had not been registered with the football authorities, the SFA and SPL. The spirit of their rules was that the whole contract terms should be registered.
Suspiciously, no evidence was led as to who decided that the benefits in terms of the side-letters should not be registered.
Non-registration of side-letters was incompatible with both authorities’ policing and disciplinary powers. For example any fines imposed on players would customarily reflect the disclosed wage.
Nondisclosure would thwart the authorities’ powers.
163
On any view, Mr Thomson argued, Rangers could have sought a ruling from the SFA or SPL about disclosure of side-letters but, clearly, they had chosen not to do so.
There was a conscious decision to conceal their existence, and that extended even to the Club’s auditors.”
This evidence clearly establishes the conduct by Rangers in relation to side-letters and player contract registration, the SFA and SPL rules, and Rangers detrimental action on the football authorities powers.
More than this, the matter of concealment is addressed, from both football authorities and the club’s auditors.
While “suspiciously, no evidence was led as to who decided that the benefits in terms of the side-letters should not be registered”, the SFA president, who was a Rangers director when EBTs were introduced, declared himself “somewhat vindicated” by this decision. You may feel otherwise.
We are busy pulling the next issue of CQN Magazine together. If you would like to write an article, or take out some advertising , get in touch, article@cqnmagazine.co.uk.
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Zbyszek @ 18.10,
As so often, you hit the nail on the head.
I feel sorry for the Green Brigade.
It just isn’t right how they are being treated.
T4
given thats Mrs T4 has managed to survive looking at your ugly mug for all those years its prob like the simpsons to her.
peterscarff
22:03 on25 February, 2013Kevtic,LNS investigated the Lord Bavaird affair – the gay judge ring in Edinburgh.
Is that the 3 judges that tried each other?
Hat,coat……
Peterscarf
Lord Dervaird …..
For once a decent Monday night EPL match, not the usual dirge. The Welsh Samaras looks a prospect.
Out of interest what was LNS findings in said investigation?
To cheer up the lhads
A Rebel Song for all Rebels
Che
No evidence of any criminality or wrongdoing ….move on !!
Che – I made the mistake of trying to be nice with you….that’s the last time, ya bawbag! :-)
T4
An Dun
20:05 on
25 February, 2013
Re Cardinal O’Brien
Anyone who describes themselves as a lapsed Catholic shouldn’t be commenting on the Church. It belongs to those of us who never turned our backs on the faith.
—————————————————
I agree in the main with this sentiment,at this time,the last thing we need is various outpourings from the self proclaimed ” Lapsed,or seen the light,or was devout but not now” brigade.
So well done to all you smart guys who bailed having seen the writing on the wall,enjoy your moment but keep it to yourself as I am absolutely devastated by the allegations.
I have no tolerance for abuse if proven,equally I have no tolerance for an unproven grievance,30 years old being aired at this particular time,the week of the Conclave.
Who are the aggrieved,why now,as serving Priests are they insensitive to the opportunity they have provided to the enemies of the Church.
So whether your active,lapsed,indifferent,or lazy,perhaps Church rulings conflict with your preferences,but all of that apart are you not just a little annoyed that a bunch of Godless bigots are maximising a situation, as yet unproven,to continue the attack on the Church,and any one associated.
PF
Oh Dear
T4
Language violation, go finish your ironing.
TTTT
that’s more like it
Thought you’d taken a turn earlier :-))
Evening all
A somewhat depressing day at work and the blog makes interesting if unusually sombre reading tonight.
I got to work just as the news of Cardinal O’Brien’s resignation came through. I met him once and attended many Masses he celebrated at St Mary’s Cathedral when I lived there. Irrespective of the truth or otherwise of the allegations cannot disguise that this is terribly sad day for the Church in Scotland – he was a good preacher I thought, seemed a humble down-to-earth man and apparently a good man.
I cannot go along though with the assertion I have read on the blog tonight that not being an active , practicising Catholic removes your right to an opinion. I would not describe myself as a ‘good’ catholic and my feelings towards the church vary but I went to catholic schools for a dozen years , have gone to mass and taken the sacrament for most of the 34 years that have elapsed since I left school. My sister had the same upbringing as I and probably hasn’t gone – excluding weddings and funerals- in 25 years. But she has her opinions on the church and today’s news has not made her happy.
As for the perennially thorny topic of songs sung in support of the IRA and indeed the prevalence of support for Irish Freedom Fighters/ ruthless terrorists – whether Official, Provisional, Continuity or the INLA- amongst the Celtic support I would say that what is sung at matches nowadays is nowhere near as objectionable as was sung in the days we stood at games, songs which genuinely made me cringe as they were plainly bigoted. Despite my own political views- republican – I’d not be sorry if the GB or anyone else stopped singing ‘ IRA’ songs at matches but if they don’t it won’t stop me going.
I like the debates on this site and respect the views on these matters which are different to mine even if some seem a kittle too Black and White with no shades in between.
Sorry for withering on – and for the inevitable grammatical and spelling errors I have been unable to correct- but as I said on an earlier post this site can seem like a confessional to me at times.
H x 2
Jimbo
LNS, will find a way that stops short of stripping titles, this should not even be debated
they cheated and in some cases even the ftt showed this, the fact that they have got a
a so called impartial judge to annonce on this gets them of the hook of having to do what
should have been natural justice, somthing the authorities in scotland do not want to do
and will not do.
Gay judges, I don’t believe it, you will be telling me next that some judges are bent >}
SFTB
Sorry pressed wrong button.
You are misquoting me i said that they killed innocent people. I have a problem with how people perceive our club. Some hear Celtic and immediately think IRA not amazing supporters not a club with great tradition, charity giving etc.
I had the fortune of spending a couple of days in the company of 4 ex players and Broony, Loovens, O dea Hartley and Caldwell in London. We were down for the playoff final at wembley. Celtic had just lost the league the day before, Strachans last game.On meeting the players were really drunk especiially Odea at 6am well they were effectively on holiday. What i was taken aback by was the level off abuse these guys take for being Celtic players. A couple of huns hurling insults in the bar at the airport . Odea marched across to the two who were playing the bandit and pretended to punch the guy who tottaly sh@t it the fear on his face priceless.
Anyway to cut a long story short it was what happened at the game that made me wonder. At half time in the concourse we were having a drink at the bar and i noticed that gradually a crowd of skinheads and dodgy looking guys were gathering. Next shouts of fuck the IRA scum and others were said and you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife.Some of the players had not even noticed so quickly hurried a few back to our seats as another minute and it was kicking off.
Anyway i guess what im trying to say is it even affects the players on their travels. Amazing weekend by the way.
PF
dont encourage him, his masks slipped
deep down hes really a nice guy but tries hard to have everyone think different
TTT says hes really a pussycat
well I think thats what he said
I am sorry I mispoke Lord Dervaird.
annonce = announce
Thanks snake
We have booked apartments in the city centre and im in shock at the quality of them considering the price.
We wer told that they didnt allow any more than 3 males to stay in the one apartment at one time therefore we have been booked in as ‘businessmen on a business trip’ for the weekend :-P
Any truth in the ’30p a pint’ rumours or is that an old wives tale?
B-)
excathedra44
22:16 on 25 February, 2013
On the other hand.
Suppose the allegations are true.
Would you want someone like that to be involved in choosing the next Pope?
How would you stop it?
I think its pretty common knowledge that many of the clergy are gay. So what if they are good people. The problem is the church’s position on gays.
as for the people who advocate the integrity of judges , remember a lot of socalled eminent judges have been a tool for whitewashes in the past, and in scotlands interest
and for the good of its nation the establishment must be seen to be protected.
excathedra44 – you better avoid Scotland Tonight on STV….Ron Burgundy was practically salivating at the hatchet job they’ve got lined up tonight.
T4
It pains me when I see people claiming that republicanism and by extension IRA support is somehow part of Celtic’s heritage – says who?
Does it also become part of CQN’s heritage just because you say so?
PeterScarff
22:31 on 25 February, 2013
‘I think its pretty common knowledge that many of the clergy are gay. So what if they are good people. The problem is the church’s position on gays.’
The rules are the same for heterosexuals and homosexuals.
I hope Cardinal O’Brien has a long and happy retirement.
I hope the accusations against him (still not entirely sure exactly what they are as the report is a bit vague on the details) are false. The statement from the Scottish Catholic Media Office does not say. Damian Thompson in the Daily Telegraph says the cardinal has denied them and would be very unlikely to say so had he not received a denial either from the cardinal or from the SCMO.
If the accusations are true, it will make me very sad because I have great affection for Cardinal O’Brien. To abuse authority over priests is a very serious matter. To impose yourself sexually on another person is also a very serious matter.
To be weak is human. To sin is human. To be tempted is human. If there are other accusations against him, they will come to light.
If no further accusations come to light and these ones turn out to be true, it suggests Cardinal O’Brien’s moments of weakness all occurred in the 1980s and then suddenly stopped. He was ordained in 1965, a long time ago. From what I know of such matters, this would be unusual. But nothing can be hidden, so it’s best to have nothing to hide.
Were the allegations to be true, it’s inevitable that people will criticise Cardinal O’Brien for hypocrisy and bishops can’t be hypocrites. They have to teach the faith and preserve unity and hypocrites can’t do that. But it’s not as though the cardinal is being accused of leading a secret life. To fall in a moment of weakness, or two or three or four is not to lead a secret life.
Plus, not everything about the story stacks up. A rector in a seminary cannot be the spiritual director of one of his own students. It’s an internal-forum, external-forum thing. Lawyers and doctors and accountants will understand immediately, I’m sure. Also, as another poster (sorry, can’t recall who) wondered out loud, it’s strange that his accusers were happy for him to attend the conclave in 2005 but now, when the guy is about to retire anyway, cannot bear to have him attend the 2013 conclave. Also, if these accusations were in circulation, it seems to me very unlikely that he would have been made a cardinal. They ask around about a guy before they make a call like that.
It is possible, of course, for someone who has suffered abuse to suppress the memory and for the memory of the abuse only to come to light later, perhaps when someone else recalls similar abuse. Maybe that’s what happened. Maybe these men were too intimidated by his authority and his personality to say anything until they knew he was on the way out. That’s possible too. All very sad.
A Glasgow priest who was a relative of a CQNer, so I won’t name him, told us years ago that the Catholics of Scotland were great, great people and loved their priests dearly and would forgive them for almost any misdemeanour. But not sexual ones. Why is that? Are we all prudes? Naw. It’s because celibacy is a sign of the kingdom. It says this quite clearly in the Gospel and in the letters of St Paul.
Sometimes people are dismayed that the kingdom should ask this of its presbyters, and it’s true that it took a while for it to be compulsory, although the idea was always there, as Jesus and Paul make clear. It’s a lot to ask. I can’t prove this, but I believe that media outrage at the sexual misdemeanours of people who have taken a vow of celibacy is for a different reason. I think many commentators think it’s ridiculous to try to live like that and seem somehow to convince themselves that they couldn’t possibly do it and that, therefore, no one could (this isn’t true). So when someone falls, they sneer and say ‘Told you’, even if not in so many words.
For the faithful, this isn’t what’s going on and it’s not what the Glasgow priest (TH), warned us about. Many of the faithful are broken-hearted when this happens. For a priest to take his vows and be a symbol of the kingdom is very enriching to the faith of ordinary people who have different roles in the Church, different vocations, different lives. To know that some people’s love and commitment to the kingdom of God is so strong that they promise to live out what Jesus calls for in Luke 18:29, and to do it for the kingdom, confirms people in their faith. What a privilege. But what a responsibility too.
The Church will continue, full of brilliant women and men. Some of them walk the streets of Scotland. Some of them come on CQN. The gates of the underworld cannot hold out against it.
Trust in God, I will praise him yet, my saviour and my God.
Didn’t mean for this post to be so long.
The withdrawal of ESPN from broadcasting SPL football is a real dichotomy for me.
On the one hand there presentation has generally been poor, and has a bit of tackiness about it. This is probably best epitomised by the broadcasting of Celtic’s friendly vs Steau, where we had ads for Romanian dating agencies running across the screen. This was compounded by Craig Burley’s commentary where he showed no evidence of pre match preparation to the extent of patronising and insulting viewers.
On the other hand, do we really want to loose a broadcaster owned by Disney, and whatever your view on their politics, a company who excel at entertainment and marketing?
It would be a real shame to lose an investor, who clearly have the potential to take on Sky.
I have no idea what BT’s plans will be, but, I do hope they adopt a fresh approach to sports broadcasting , and potentially help us find a way , whereby we can broadcast 3pm Saturday kick offs with lots of bums on seats, decent global audiences, and a fresh, innovative approach to broadcasting .
Oh, and of course, some original broadcasting talent.
Out of curiosity, is there anyone from the blog travelling to Italy next week & staying in Turin? Seems that most people, myself included, are either staying in Milan or the surrounding areas. Either way, I hope it is a peaceful trip and the Bhoys are left to party without any trouble.
what is the stars
22:06 on
25 February, 2013
Stringer Bell
——-
If you have time, read Bill mcmurdos blog today. It’s unusual. Actually, it’s rational in parts.
Then read the comments. That’s why I need to stop lurking on the dark side! I feel compelled to try to put people straight.:-). Which is impossible.
Many would not admit to what your original post out forward, but that didn’t make it any less true…..
Jack Hackett for Pope!
“What? Priests? Don’t tell me I’m still on that feckin’ island! “
The news about O’Brien Cardinal were story In the Polish media today as well. I see many posts on allegations today.
Decided to post the story from my place.
It’s public teaching in Poland where children have “religion” lessons in schools. Those who are Catholics learn Catholic religion. Those who are not Catholics can aplly for Orthodox religion teacher etc. Those who don’t want religion lessons they can go to learn ethics or can have lessons with separate teacher.
My three daughters attended school about six kilometers from here, in another parish. About six years back the parish got new priest, new religion teacher in my children’s school.
About two months after the new man came to the parish, one of the tabloids published the article with some pictures taken from behind the fence proving that the new man in parish was a gay who invited another gays. The story was well prepared provocation. The fact was that the new priest was gay.
You can imagine huge scandal in the place where I lived. I was in shock, my daughters could not understand whole scandal. The priest was moved or asked for a move to the monastery. The journalists found him there after another two months and took another pictures of him. The article was about Catholic Church hiding gay priest. The priest moved to another monastery. Another two or three months after that article, the tabloid published pictures of gay priest’s family.
Few days after that article my daughters came from school with sad news. The priest killed himself and left the message that by making that decision he wanted to help his family. He could not stand journalist tracking his parents and brothers. The newspaper was not “Holy Church” or “La Osservatore” or whatever.
I learned a lot from that sad story.
Celtic_First
22:36 on 25 February, 2013
1.The climate on these things, within and without the Church, has changed since the last conclave.
2. It wasn’t the conclave that prompted the complaint. The complaint was submitted before the Pope announced he was standing down. As I understand it what precipitated the complaint was O’Brien retiring. Why I’m not sure. Perhaps the complainers only felt safe to make the complaint when they knew O’Brien would no longer have authority over them.
“Alright, there appears to be an event happening. Central Park was just hit by what seems to be a terrorist attack. They’re not clear on the scale yet. It’s some kind of airborne chemical toxin that’s been released in and around the park. They said to watch for warning signs. The first stage is confused speech. The second stage is physical disorientation, loss of direction. The third stage… is…..????”
Ah…..the third stage…..’fatal’ according M. Night Shyamalan …….but as aficionados of the outré and psychotropic will know, he was only dealing with a society where the vegetation of the planet finally said ‘we’ve had enough’ and took their revenge for the destruction of the ozone layer, throwing MacDonald’s packaging into the Clyde or putting the green bottles in the same bank as the clear bottles. In a modestly proportionate act of revenge/justice or genocide all those affected committed a mass hara-kiri as penitents for bringing the environment close to destruction.
But believe me in comparison to what lies over the storm clouds, the destruction of the environment, the depletion of the ozone layer and the creation of an atmosphere that will see only a proliferation of unpredictable extremophiles that thrive on concentrated CO2, enjoy an atmosphere of cow fart, bask in the rays of ultra violet one day and then the next wander around in anoraks as temperatures alternate between -32 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit, will be a walk in the park (unless there is a particulary neddish jaggy nettle waiting in the shrubbery to mug an unsuspecting litter lout)!
It comes to me often when I log on to blogs, websites and message boards. It is so bleedin obvious and simple that it has not been dismissed because no one knows it is actually happening. Or if they do, they don’t realise the import and impact of allowing it to continue……..Take a sideways glance…catch the mystery and here lies the spectre of ….’naaaaawwwww’.
TO BE CONTINUED
Hail Hail
Estadio
Ernie Lynch:
Would you want someone like that to be involved in choosing the next Pope?
———————————————————————————————————
And there you have it in a nutshell.
Tried! Convicted! Sentenced!
Of what exactly?
He is now guilty and there is no way he will ever be able to clear his name.
Even if it all panned out to be nothing more than a bunch of disgruntled guys with an axe to grind.
As I said, I have no idea whether he is guilty or not, of what I have no idea.
However, the point is, he has already been convicted in the full glare of the media who know full well how the public will react.
And the MSM in Scotland in particular will be having a frenzy at the trough.
No doubt they will be sending their muck rakers out to find every little bit of gossip they can find to throw at him.
He will be hounded to the grave.
Hateful.
Interesting how some see the take on how the club is affected by singing rebel songs, and that they are in turn linking us with the IRA.
I have lived and worked outwith scotland for a great deal of my adult life, and I can say with my hand on my heart, that in the non english speaking country’s, I have never come across anyone who has associated Celtic with the IRA.
Bhoylo83
Not these days.
When I was first there it was 5 Zl a pint, it’s now double.
There are places where you’ll get it for 6zl but it’s finding it in the centre especially