I see a lot of argument exercised over the weekend on the double-jeopardy issue. Holding an inquiry into an event, then holding another when you don’t get the desired outcome. I have sympathy to a degree with this sentiment, but only within limits. Tax cheats who successfully wriggle out of their responsibilities at a Tribunal, may be called to a second, third or fourth hearing.
This will feel like quadruple-jeopardy, but it’s correct and often needed for the law to apply evenly. It’s also worth noting that the Crown successfully convicted its first double-jeopardy case in November last year, following the Double Jeopardy (Scotland) Act.
For non-legal cases, such as the SPL Commission headed by Lord Nimmo Smith, there is no double-jeopardy law, either way, the SFA source trying to influence the media late last week into thinking there was, was getting ahead of himself. Any organisation can ask any question of itself at any point.
What the SPFL (formerly known as the SPL) must now ask, is was the Lord Nimmo Smith Commission fit for purpose?
Auldheid, writing on Scottish Football Monitor last year, published his correspondence to SPFL solicitor, Rod McKenzie of Harper MacLeod, suggesting crucial information, requested by McKenzie as part of his case on behalf of the SPL, was not disclosed.
The implication being that McKenzie was unable to reference the material he needed to successfully prosecute his case as the salient information was withheld by Rangers. McKenzie wrote to Rangers on 5 March 2012 asking for relevant information but allegedly did not receive documentation on EBTs Rangers had already agreed with HMRC were incorrect and liable for tax.
The SPL Commission concluded Rangers gained no sporting advantage from their EBTs as, although they found the club acted wrongly in respect of player registration rules, the Commission found that even if the EBTs had been declared, no tax would have been payable, so no sporting advantage was achieved.
We now know that a considerable amount of tax should have been paid (subject to appeal to the Supreme Court), which flips the criteria Nimmo Smith based his decision upon.
I suspect nothing will happen between now and the expiry of the Big Tax Case appeal notification window in early December. Should no appeal be made, the SPFL will need to consider its position.
Football, to a considerable extent, relies on clubs issuing information openly and fully to authorities when required. If a conspiracy to withhold information from an inquiry exists, and is subsequently uncovered, the authorities must consider what action is appropriate.
At the very least, the national association should not be privately promoting a cover-up.
Jim Craig and Brendan Sweeney will be on CQN live from 19:30 onwards on Wednesday to talk about the fascinating topics covered in Brendan’s new book, Celtic: The Early Years. You can ask questions on the blog and Jim and Brendan will get straight back to you.
We’ve held a few of these events before and they’ve always been great fun, especially when we get to chat with one of the men who won the Big Cup. And Brendan, of course!
Ladies, the unique event on the Celtic calendar, Ghirls for Good Christmas Lunch, is now open for bookings. It’s a ladies-only lunch on Saturday, 12 December at the Kerrydale Suite, and I’m told the best day out of the year. You can book tickets, or a table of 10, here. No guys allowed!
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JOBO BALDIE on 16TH NOVEMBER 2015 6:11 PM
Ok mate
Blantyre Tim
Those poor Rangers fans were cruelly duped with regard to their club’s sectarian signing policy.
All Rangers fans were (and are) only interested in football and wanted to see a team made up of all parts of the country’s social and religious spectrum.
They genuinely believed that the likes of Cammy Fraser, John Brown and Billy Urquhart were limited footballers but also devout Roman Catholics, charitably signed by their club in order to combat bigotry and set a positive example to the wider Scottish society.
It was, according to Richard Wilson, widely understood and accepted by Rangers fans in the 1980s that the aforementioned trio would donate 50 per cent of their wages to the St Vincent de Paul society. This, says Wilson, was met with unanimous approval amongst the Rangers supporting heartlands of Larkhall, Armadale and Ballymena.
It is commonly misunderstood that a number of Rangers fans, in a display of disgraceful and childish bigotry, burnt their scarves outside Ibrox and returned their season tickets in 1989 after the club signed nominal Catholic Le Petit Merde.
This, according to Kenny McIntyre, is a scandalous misrepresentation of the facts. McIntyre states that a minority of Rangers fans burnt scarves simply to keep themselves warm on a unseasonable cold day and also to try to save the lives of several innocent children as there were rumours that the scarves concerned breached European fire safety/ Flammability regulations. The Rangers fans were only concerned with taking the dangerous garments out of public circulation to avert tragedy.
Chick Young has clarified that season tickets were returned by a philanthropic group of well meaning Rangers fans who wanted the tickets to be used to allow unemployed people, in Chick’s words “especially Tai….erm Catholics” to sample the delights of a football match at Ibrox.
Derek Johnstone has also asked that the “unfortunate misinterpretation” of Rangers fans singing the Famine song from 2008 be cleared up. This, Johnstone maintains, was not a display of anti-Irish racism in any shape or form. Rather it was a spontaneous outpouring of celebration amongst Rangers fans upon the 23rd anniversary of the end of the notorious Ethiopian famine of the mid-1980s.
Johnstone says that Rangers fans, world renowned for their charitable exploits, were the first group to avert society to the African famine crisis, going as far as to “despite their reservations over his timmy sounding name” tip off reporter Michael Beurk about the impending humanitarian crisis. So they decided to sing in celebration upon the 23rd anniversary of the end of the crisis and were simply telling their great fraternal friends in the Celtic support to go home and mark the occasion with their own celebrations.
These giants of Scottish journalism are adamant that the Rangers support never ever condoned the sectarian signing policy. Honest. A big boy did it and ran away.
They do get a bad press, right enough.
Live and lert live, I say.
Good Evening.
Richard Gough’s new column was a particularly lame attempt to deflect calls for title-stripping. Here is my [*cough*] slightly critical take on it…
https://theclumpany.wordpress.com/2015/11/16/dry-your-eyes-richard/
LOUGHREA CELT on 16TH NOVEMBER 2015 6:05 PM
Glad you and your son had a grand day, I mind my kids meeting Naka, it’s still their claim to fame years on.
To be honest, I think that is were the interaction with the players and fanbase falls short just now.
The players should be out and about at club nights, players of the year etc…HH
Will try again what was Rangers punishment for not having there player’s registered properly and why was it not 3-0 to other team like the Legia Game.
I know I shouldn’t but listening to Clyde:((
According to Keevins…Ebt’s was of no advantage to the Huns…
Feck me, I’m not paying anymore tax, it’s allowed, join me in Barlinnie…wtf.
lennon’s passion…
It’s just you and me on here tonight, everybody else is on hunmedia:)
No penalty, haven’t thems suffered enough;)
Spiers – Rangers will go up by hook or by crook.
Errrrrrr…..
sipsini on 16th November 2015 6:25 pm
Couldn’t agree more. Hopefully the more young lads that come through the ranks and have a bond (from birth) with the club will be more open to engaging with fans.
Thanks for the info about though poor and honest orcs who where unaware of the goings on at ipox
Sipsini
I have moaned for years about lack of connection between players and fans and I’ll say again at least once a month train at Barrowfield and let the kids meet the players in the car park the way we all did up until lennoxtown was built
The risible Keevins changes his tune re EBT’s,back working for Traynor again?
Sutton. Hartson. Lambert should never be let near celtics stadium again. Pathetic mercenaries from an era where we nearly bankrupt ourselves to keep up with our doped rivals and paid these guys fortunes.
Oneill has shown no interest in ever coming back to watch anyway. .
Interesting that neither Neil or Gordon have offered the view that EBT doped rangers got no advantage.
Lennon and Strachan like Jock took our club to a European high in the big competition without spending more than we earned.
Sportsound like a Rangers News podcast, Spiers, Jackson, Wilson & McIntyre. So much for impartiality or giving a balanced view.
Keevins is aQuisling who would sell his soul (again) for a few silver coins,
pay no attention to him, he gets lonlier by the day,
till later all
“Unfortunately the behaviour of some people, in recent weeks, has tarnished the image of Scottish football and had demeaned the game. The climate of inference, innuendo, and conspiracy theories must stop.”
“I won’t mention any names”.
Liar, liar pants on fire!!!!!
Campbell Ogilvie administered RFC sectarian policy as well as their EBTs
At the SFA he played a key role to cover up what happened at RFC and withhold info from LNS
As well as stripping titles his SFA Presidency should be struck from the records as not fit for purpose
Keevins is a qQuisling who would sell his soul (again) for a few silver coins,
pay no attention to him, he gets lonelier by the day,
till later all
As rodger waters says
“every man has his price and yours was pretty low” is keevins to a tee
The Hun EBT scandal must be properly dealt with
If it’s not then Scottish football will have lost all credibility …our custodians must accept that there is more to Scottish football than the “return of Rangers ”
We are at the tipping point …
Wow – I expected Sportsound to go downhill after Jim Spence left. But THIS far…..???
Burnley78,
I would imagine WGS and Neil Lennon haven’t been asked for their opinion as the SMSM just might not like the response.
Just a guess!
Is that true that O’Neill hasn’t been back at Celtic Park to watch us?
Hail Hail from the Blatterdome
COYBIG
The MSM are on full Hun alert
Not worth listening to at present …I haven’t read them for years..I doubt much has changed
I find it all quite amusing ….do they really think we are as daft as them
G67-Speirs nailed McIntyre’s colours to the mast,as if it needed reiterated
PFAYR
Am I part of the soiree in the BV next month?
Almore
About to hit the pub to watch the Irish. Enjoy the match.
COYBIG
On Saturday the 28th of November I will take part in a sponsor cycle in aid of Sean Sweeney, the president of Wishaw Emerald CSC. He has not been able to work for sometime due to serious illness. We wish to raise money to help him and his family at this hard time.
Bear in mind that since I have not exercised since sometime in the 80’s this will be no easy task for me.
Please consider making a donation towards dedicated Celtic supporter Sean and his family.
Feel free to share with your friends on your social network sites. Thank you!
Thanks to The Spirit Of Arthur Lee who was the first to donate moments after I was cajoled into taking part.
If you are not able to donate via this link for some reason you can donate in person like SOAL did.
HH
https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/lynnmarie-oconnor-1
Want The Republic to do well tonight but no time for O’Neill anymore.
LATCHFORD-Ogilvie’s role in introducing EBT’s to Hearts needs looked at too.
Hi Kitalba
Good to see you post. Hope you are well.
Bada bing …
Re Grouty’s cell … Dave King is a despicable scrote
Burnley
I have no time for any of the names you mention – real celtic men my erse
Ask the original holy goalie – ask the former Scotland and celtic captain Tom boyd – real celtic men
M23
Jumping about like a madman at concerts is good training.
All the training I get these days.
Good luck and well done!
WGS did want the league gerrymandered, with no regard for sporting integrity, though, to get Sevco “back” in the top tier.
Only want the best for MO’N, for the best years since the Stein era, for the miracle season of 2000-2001, for restoring our reputation in Europe, and for being the last manager to demand the tools to do the job properly.
Not that I’m not grateful to WGS and Neil for the special nights they provided too, and Neil’s courage facing up to what he did.
‘Mon ROI!
Fred C-ha HH
Maybe Hearts keeping quiet in case SC win in 1998 gets taken off them?
October 2012 – Neil Doncaster claims Hearts gained a sporting advantage by not paying their players/staff https://t.co/Q99bnFML8a
Come on you boys in green