Dougie Dougie and SFA cover-up
As a consequence of items relating to lies told by former referee Dougie McDonald’s no longer being found by searches through Google’s UK portal, while reaming available on the US portal, a suspicion arose that McDonald has used recent EU ruling to have these items expunged from the search engine.
During a Dundee United-Celtic game in 2010 McDonald awarded Celtic a penalty, then quickly changed his mind. He lied to Neil Lennon after the game, and to the SFA supervisor about the circumstances which caused him to change his mind. Celtic Quick News published an excerpt from the supervisor’s report, which was based on information McDonald subsequently admitted was false.
Having admitted to a lie, and under pressure from Celtic, McDonald resigned later in the year, but the greater stench was that of cover-up. Having set the chain of events in motion, McDonald realised his error and admitted what he did to the SFA on the day of the game.
Having lied, he quickly came clean, but the actions of the SFA were far more serious. With knowledge of the lie, the SFA were now in ownership of it. They should have told McDonald to apologise to Neil Lennon and the referee supervisor. Instead, they publicly reaffirmed the lie.
Even after the cover-up came to light, the SFA continued to close ranks on Celtic, faces were set to stone. If Celtic didn’t know their place when it came to the dark arts of the SFA, they became acutely aware of it then. Nothing could ever be the same again.
I have sympathy for McDonald. He made a mistake but quickly did the right thing. His name is tarnished largely as a consequence of the actions of his superiors. If he called Neil Lennon the next day to extend the apology he gave to the SFA, the matter may have ended there and then. He was not an innocent victim of an SFA cover-up, but he was a kind of victim.
The fight to change the SFA goes on. Peter Lawwell is now on the board and some of the faces have moved on, but it is not a healthy body. The vast majority of the 93 member clubs are not conspiratorial in nature and have no ill towards Celtic or any other club, but overhauling the labyrinth of committees, with vested interests which have been decades in the making, will look like pushing water uphill to anyone committed to reform.
Our interests are best served leaving the SFA behind, and we’re not alone in that.
Excitement builds as the 10-in-a-row CQN Charity Golf Day takes place tomorrow in Aberdour, with Frank McGarvey and Len Murray!
This year we are raising money for Glasgow the Caring City and The Cookiejar Foundation. We have two copies of this magnificent canvas, signed by Billy McNeill, one is available to the highest bidder on ebay here.
The other is available for raffle. Every donor to this JustGiving page gets an entry in the raffle. The minimum donation is £1, which we can all afford to participate in, although you can donate as much as you want. Our thanks to @BarryMcGonigle for the image on the canvas and OPG Graphics for creating the work.