“The tax default and reporting rules are an integral part of maintaining a fair league competition”.
Neil Doncaster, SPFL chief executive, November 2014.
“A fair league competition”. Strong words. I wonder if Mr Doncaster is keen to apply his ethics as evenly when it comes to a team with more than a couple of thousand fans. Don’t bet on it.
I suggested last week you ignore the comments coming out of Hampden about there being little appetite to look into the enormous levels of cheating which we now know went on is our game for over a decade. There is very little appetite from those occupying executive positions at Hampden, but they will not decide what happens.
Ultimate authority at the SFA and SPFL lies with the clubs, and more than just Celtic are alarmed by what went on, and the apparent flippancy show towards it in recent days by those paid to protect the honesty and reputation of our game.
Instincts exist within any organisation to protect itself. We’ve seen this play out in the Church (against their own), the police (against their own), Fifa (against their own), so it should be no surprise that those who worked, and became friends with, some of the architects of Rangers EBT scandal had little appetite to open an investigation.
An SFA or SPFL commission could lead to the disciplining of two-term SFA president, Campbell Ogilvies, or Sir David Murray, men who have made friends in the game for decades.
It would inevitably lead to the examination of the Resolution 12 issue (how Rangers were granted a licence to compete in the Champions League in 2011 when they didn’t meet the criteria). And this one is current enough to involve many still active in their roles.
And then there is the weighty matter of dealing with the consequences of what went on in our sport for all those years.
The demand of an investigation into what went on sounds reasonable but you cannot look into something corrupt without consequences, and that’s where corrupt systems work against fair competition.
Rangers rigged the system, their practises are as clear-cut a case of Financial Doping as you will find. They were playing by different rules, different tax rules and different player registration rules.
They failed to disclose information which should have been disclosed, but could have incriminated them. Unlike Craig Whyte, who was banned from the game for his duplicities, the directors who embarked on this great subversion have never been called to account.
Nor will they unless voices are heard across Scottish football. Don’t lose focus on getting angry (not yet, anyway), right now, we need fans of other clubs to share our concerns and let their voices be heard. Winning allies is the first part of winning this debate, and that’s easier done by calmly making our point.
11 clubs suffered financial consequences of Rangers Financial Doping. Motherwell lost a minimum of £2.1m from not gaining access to European competition. How would they feel if they were a cyclist half a mile behind Lance Armstrong in every race? Would if be OK, as he didn’t get caught?
There’s a Christmas toy collection for Maryhill Foodbank at Wild Cabaret, THIS Saturday, 14 November, from midday to 4:30. Families who don’t have money for food don’t have money for Christmas toys. If you have something you can donate, drop it in. There’s mulled wine and mince pies on the go.
You’ll find Wild Cabaret at 18 Candleriggs (0141 552 6165).
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Lambert going from bad to worse. “Rangers” “demoted”?????
I treat Richard wilson’s comments on Celtic with as much contempt as I’d treat any comments made by Peter sutcliffe on women’s rights issues
Wilson is not a proper football journalist. A placeman installed to peddle pro-Sevco propaganda.
Relieved beyond words Paul Lambert never became our manager.
Five minutes of BFDJ while in car.
Aberdeen, Hibs and Dundee United among the “3 or 4 clubs” who”had it in for Rangers”.
He would support fans “not taking their allocation” next season if they speak out on title stripping.
Meanwhile Celtic’s statement today on the poppy protest are merely “empty gestures” as the culprits never get banned. The game apparently ” as it was on Sky” would have been watched “all over the UK and all around Europe”.
The game was actually on BT.
Celtic’s annual £10k donation to the Poppy Appeal was also dismissed and the club “like big clubs across the country” need to have a poppy on the Celtic shirt.
I’ve changed my mind Lambert is not able to serve the hamburgers he is a fecking hamburger..
Dick Wilson,typical of the pro hun misinformation peddled by the SMSM,stopped in his tracks by Graeme Speirs.
Here’s what King said:
Former Rangers director Dave King has said sorry to Scottish football for the EBT scandal which has plunged the game into civil war.
On a day when a Walter Smith-led takeover consortium pulled out of a £6million bid to buy the club, King expressed concern over a perceived lack of humility and acceptance of wrongdoing from the club’s powerbrokers.
A First Tier Tribunal into the ‘big tax case’ involving the old club’s use of Employee Benefit Trust schemes has yet to deliver a verdict. Speaking after the SPL ruled that Rangers had a case to answer over the alleged use of dual contracts, however, King offered the first concession from an Ibrox figurehead that the club may have gained a competitive advantage over their rivals.
‘I think we should be sorry – and I certainly am sorry,’ King told Sportsmail. ‘We owe both the Rangers fans and the Scottish footballing public an apology.
‘Some of the representations made have betrayed more of a victim status. But I think somebody needs to apologise.
‘Clearly, that is not for Charles Green to do. But I am happy to say that I really believe we should be saying sorry and I think there is something to be sorry about.
‘And as a former director when these things were going on, I am minded to do so.
‘With regard to EBTs, I was on the board so I have to take some responsibility.
‘And I follow the logic of the argument that if we lose the tax case then we probably gained some competitive advantage.
‘I believe that, on behalf of myself and most of the board members who were with me and probably agree with me, that we should apologise for that.
‘I know that the Murray Group might not say that, because it might be tantamount to admitting it.
‘But I am happy to say it as a director of the football club. And, having been there for the last couple of days, and getting a sense of the anger and anxiety, that it is absolutely appropriate for the previous regime to be sorry.’
Club chairmen will decide on July 4 if an Ibrox newco should be allowed to play in the top tier next season.
Even if the chairmen vote yes, however, SPL sources have warned that the club could still face expulsion if dual contracts were operated by a board of directors on which King was a member for 12 years.
Insisting there was no attempt to gain a deliberate competitive advantage from the use of a Murray group EBT, King added: ‘No one on the board, when I was there, would have had any intention of gaining an advantage.
‘But the fact is that I can understand the perception out there now.
‘And the way that Rangers have treated the authorities – instead of having a conversation with them around reparation – has been regrettable.
‘One of the things I would have looked at as part of a consortium in terms of funding is to try and fund them so that they could make some sort of commercial reparation to the other clubs.
‘But let’s do it in a way whereby it is seen to have happened and we come out of it strongly.’
Lambert well on message tonight .. Well briefed .. After a job ?
….PFayr supports WeeOscar on 9th November 2015 7:12 pm Lambert well on message tonight .. Well briefed .. After a job ?
There’s one that he’s talked himself out of ever getting
winning captains
What chances of other Celts coming to the fore like Darren ?
http://blogs.channel4.com/alex-thomsons-view/rangers-cheated-football-fraudulent-silverware/10066
Apologies if already posted
Aye Paul, just say that, Celtic supporters don’t listen anymore so they’ll be none the wiser honest
Manager does not know the rules, hmmm
All Rangers fans in Bbc Studio. Only one Brother dissenting. Speirs incredulous at Wilson’s it wasn’t illegal rant. Ok then Richard, why will HMRC be sending out demands to the Ebtrs then?
Alex Thompson presents a fairly good synopsis there. But he forgot one thing. ….have they not suffered enough☺☺
….PFAYR SUPPORTS WEEOSCAR on 9TH NOVEMBER 2015 7:12 PM
Lambert well on message tonight .. Well briefed .. After a job ?
==============================================================
Hope its not with us,good player but would never been near us but for his Wife and her Family.
I always remember his interview when still in Germany and linked with Celtic. ” Am happy where am ur” said the Superstar.
Remember the furor when Jock Brown wanted him on speech therapy, if he was to represent Celtic,thick as mince,as demonstrated tonight.
jeez big cup winners – world view shattered. There is hope.
That looks like Ronaldo and Messi, naw don’t worry Paul their names on the team sheet were Roger and Morris so it can’t be them but it looks like them, don’t worry Paul they won fair and square, no ?
Lambert has went way down in my estimation and I admit I thought he’d make a Celtic manager,eejit that I am.
I’ll tune in to the rage-io when the panel consists of Tam Boyd,Neil Lennon and Artur Boruc.
Paul Succulent Lambert
winning captains on 9th November 2015 7:11 pm Five minutes of BFDJ while in car.
———–
Not literally I hope!
Lambtart
Looks like Lambert is the first runaway winner of the mint sauce award.
Hard to believe that Wilson is a BBC reporter…
Well, now we know what TAX PAYERs contribute to…
Better not to pay taxes and get better coverage !!!
It’s KAFKA-esque !!!
Move on for the good of the Scottish game.
Whatever happened the the Struthian dignified ‘Let the rest catch up with us’.
Could THEY possibly be learning a bit of humility?
NO! I don’t think so either.
This blog is back to its best. I sense there is a belief that the move to strip titles will prevail despite humorous twisting by ex professionals and Rangers supporting journalists.
Somebody at work suggested Rangers could easily have afforded those players and paid the tax. They looked white when I asked why they didn’t and hid it from the authorities.
How many times do I need to bin that bloody John Lewis advert before it gets the message I don’t need a new bloody telly?
Alex Rae on Clyde Superscoreboard flap flap flap the sound of a guilty man 3 years ago.
http://youtu.be/vFBiMUiMDfA
31003
Thought it was just me … Infuriating
Asking ex-players their opinion is absolutely irrelevant – its just crap to fill airwaves.
Is Chuckles Green entitled to a refund on his £5.5 Million if the history turns out to be “soiled”?
Ive got a bit lost with all of this .
Were the ones who got the ebts playing for the club or the company and which club or company.
And was it the company or the club that payed them? If so which club or company did it?
This is all a crock of….
they just want to retain tardy hollow trophies. No shame or honour in the titles, but still they don’t care. What values do they have?
Sham club for sham people. I struggle to understand how anyone can place value on something so debased.
saddest thing is the so called professionals lining up to back something so shameful.
imagine lying to yourself; can’t get my head round that one? Are they so short of esteem?
Scotland really is a small dark place.
From @pnot888.
SPFL email from David Ogilvie confirms there was no demotion or relegation for TRFC,but a start in Div 3 https://t.co/dc8zgFOxcI
20thcenturybhoy.
Rangers fc cheated. Had unfair sporting advantage won numerous tainted trophies WHERE IS THE CELTIC STATEMENT ON THI? TITLES MUST B STRIPPED.
I have to agree with this chap could you imagine the uproar in this country from the media, the Huns & Sevco Football club ?
Our life would not be worth living in this country if the shoe was on the other foot.
Did Dermot Desmond not say he wanted us and the cheats in the premiership ? No thanks I don’t want be associated with cheats.
I’m not bothered what hoopslegend Paul Lambert says- this is being stage managed with all the subtlety of the American wrestling.
He is the best Celtic midfielder since Paul Mcstay, and a genuine hunskelper.
He’s so’ thick’ he thrived in the Bundesliga.
The blot on his managerial record is his time at Villa, but that is turning out to be an ole poisoned chalice; they are a club in inexorable decline.
I particularly liked this bit from Alex Thomson:
“Rangers – obstructive, unhelpful and evasive, according to the Tax Tribunals – are now found to be tax cheats on an industrial scale by the Law Lords.”
JJ
Interesting timing of the BTC verdict – it couldn’t have come out a better time than during an International Break (especially as Scotland failed to make the Play-offs).
Let’s face it had Scotland been involved then airtime and ‘bum’ paper would have been devoted to the home/away fixtures. The fact that we are not – should keep the EBT focus live for the next 10 days.
The more ex-players and so called ‘experts’ they roll out the bigger the hole they’ll dig for themselves. Hopefully it will enlighten some of the supporters of (so-called) smaller clubs to the deviance that’s been perpetrated – their voice might be key to the justice we at Celtic seek.
The more airtime this gets the better – maybe (just maybe) the neighbours down south (or even UEFA) might start to show an interest in the corruption.
I live in hope!
Canamalar,
That’s fine with me. I would prefer Asteriks. Shoot me.
But you miss my point.
If we want a groundswell of opinuon from other clubs then we need to concentrate on two things. Convictions and cleaning up tbe game. We will not get one without the other.
Hipe has to be offered and revenge buried. Publicly anyway. The lodge has still to work its magic. UEFA is in dissarray. No hope there. Only the customers can change it. See Resolutuon 12
HH