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Football, law breaking, organised crime and plain old bias

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By on CQN BLOG & Comments

They were an icon against fascism, a club representative of a people, more than any national identity could ever be.  We saw commonalities between Barcelona and our own heritage.  While we did what we could to earn a seat at the top table, they packed out the biggest club stadium in Europe and were invariably second, third, or sometimes first in the football money league.

Catalan prosecutors have revealed that over a 17 year period, Barcelona paid €8.4m to the former vice-president of the Spanish refereeing committee, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, and his company.  The payments are not disputed, the former referee VP, claims the club employed him to ensure fairness.

He said, “I saw [Barcelona presidents] at most six times a year so they were calm that there were no decisions against FC Barcelona in the arbitration committee, that everything was neutral.”  The club claim they paid the money for Negreira to compile video reports to compliment information required by coaching staff.

Former Barcelona presidents, Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, face corruption charges, the former recently spent two years in prison on separate charges before being acquitted on appeal.  The club’s current president, Joan Laporta, has not been indicted, although the story has a long way to run.

Compared to what happened in Scotland – disguised renumeration and undisclosed contracts to dodge taxes and gain a sporting advantage, paying millions to a referee chief – even if you accept either parties’ version of events, is on a different level.  Perhaps only Juventus can compete with what for so many of us was an iconic bastion of goodness in the game.

Although corruption exists in football, it is rare to see payments directly between parties who should never have such commercial dealings.  More commonly, this type of payment would go through a third party.  The industry is a heady environment for ambitious lawyers, who make up a sizeable portion of the players’ agent industry.  They commonly invoice significant fees to club and can easily pay equally significant fees out for other professional services.

You may know it goes on, but even if you had all the paperwork, proving what happened was something sinister can be impossible.  Which is why this is so shoddy, lazy, even.  It is time for us to stop pretending modern sport is some bastion of 19th century ethical endeavours and accept that law breaking, organised crime and plain old bias cannot reach our fields.  To believe otherwise does our athletes and the paying customer a disservice.

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  1. petec on

    GFTB on 26th March 2023 3:26 am

     

     

    Petec 3.23am

     

     

     

    No wonder you were only out for 4hrs !!!!

     

     

    ………………………………………………

     

     

    I was on ma best Misbehaviour. I think I ?spelt it Madeleine Albright.

     

     

    F it, it is inded Terry Waite.

     

     

    This is a Team and thats first & FOREMOST.

  8. ‘GG on

    We used to get our nail in studs from Sneddons in Airdrie, the shop that had everything.

     

    Brake blocks for your bike. Blinds for the windows. Spades for the garden. Pokers for the fire. Laces for your boots. Dubbin for a Saturday morning application.

     

    For a reminder what these shops looked like, have a wee look at the Two Ronnies sketch. Four Candles.

  9. ‘GG on

    Oh and don’t forget the last which had to be hauled out when the studs were replaced or when the segs were put on your winter boots.

  11. petec on

    ‘GG,

     

     

    It’s good to see you still fighting fit.

     

     

    Scrap that – It’s Awesome to see yer fine self still Abdul Quadir.

     

     

    God Bless.

     

     

    You seen the Lions……. Am I getting too excited?

  12. petec on

    I wiz so Yvonne Murrayed.

     

     

    What a runner.

     

     

    3-0 Ecosse.

     

     

    Glasgow was full of Dudes wearin’.

     

     

    Celtic Standard… whit 22 Scooby.

  21. petec on

    I think this game is gonnae be Big – Ohmega – perhaps I’m a dafty. I think this is gonnae be Something else.

     

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcdfSp_2XVk

     

     

    If they Open up…….

     

     

    This Celtic team is the Mae West I’ve ever witnessed.

     

     

    Open UP…

     

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZj9bi7YNmI

     

     

    Legend!!!!!

     

     

    Leftfield.

     

     

    Wowser, trouser arouser,Bowser

     

     

    It says a lot, I coudnae remember this Incredible sonic.

     

     

    I was always Nintendo – It is a pathetic excuse.

     

     

    I am somehow Blessed tae meet Musiic Gurus.

  23. Big Jimmy on

    CALL ME GERRY on 25TH MARCH 2023 6:52 PM

     

    BACK TO BASICS – GLASS HALF FULL on 25TH MARCH 2023 12:09 PM

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Big Jimmy – your betting posts never fail to raise a smile.

     

     

     

     

    ——————————————————————

     

     

     

     

    I must confess, I have a wee chuckle when I read these posts. If I had a pound for every time I heard about winning bets AFTER the event…..lol

     

    ………………….

     

     

    Gerry,

     

    Maybe you will AGREE with me that it is very difficult to Post about the RESULT of a Horse Race Race and/or a Fitba match, BEFORE the Event has actually taken place ?

     

    To try and do so, is nothing more than SPECULATION on my Part….Unless my name is MYSTIC MEG ?

     

     

    YOU do NOT have ACCESS to my Mobile Texts, but IF YOU did, you may find that I sometimes ” ALERT/TEXT” my Mate BRRB, towards certain Horses and/or Jockeys on a particular Day, BEFORE the Race.

     

    Unlike some of my other Mates, BRRB enjoys a wee Punt on the Horses most days, that is why I am referring to him in particular.

     

    Would you rather I Posted about EVERY Horse and/or Fitba Result, but that would be rather SILLY of me, wouldnt it ?

     

     

    I am MORE than capable of backing Horses that do NOT Win, ANYONE else can EASILY do the same, so I will leave them to it.

     

    HH

  24. Big Jimmy on

    MELBOURNE MICK on 25TH MARCH 2023 10:24 PM

     

    Suns out ! Think I’ll just go and dubbin ma heid.

     

     

     

     

    H H. Mick

     

    ………………….

     

     

    i once had a Girl friend who looked like an auld Fitba Boot.

     

    She often claimed that I was Guilty of ” DUBBIN” Her up the wrong way !

     

     

    I made that one up myself Mate.

     

    LOL.

     

    HH

  25. Big Jimmy on

    DRAMBOWIECELT on 26TH MARCH 2023 12:12 AM

     

    @Big j..reading back….top picking on yer lines mate….

     

     

     

     

    keep hammering the cream cookies….

     

     

     

     

    M.M down under….everytime i think of you doin the park…for the youngsters..

     

     

     

     

    I walk the line … lol…j cash

     

    ……………..

     

    Cheers Mate.

     

    I hope your health is okay ?

     

    Look after yourself and the Wee Yin……..Im sure that you do.

     

    HH.

     

    WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED.

  26. Big Jimmy on

    DRAMBOWIECELT on 26TH MARCH 2023 2:37 AM

     

    At Gerry….My grandson showed me a vid of a beautiful ghirl..

     

     

     

     

    Giving it big licks of Jota on the wing… on acoustic ???

     

     

     

     

    I know big j was wonderin what the words where??? a few months ago????

     

     

    …………….

     

    ” JOTA makes the Celtic Sing….JOTA on the Wing” ?

     

    LOL

     

    HH

  30. David66 on

    Good morning all Tim’s across the globe from a dry at the moment Garngad.

     

     

    Big shout to my buddy Fergus Slayed The Blues if he gets a chance to lurk (he in Dubai visiting his daughter and grandkids).

     

     

    Spent a lovely day yesterday with my own 2 as young Riley turned 11 and off to watch him play footy this morning.

     

    Teams still hovering about him I wish 1 would take a chance on him he is the next Alister Johnson, fast, aggresive, good on the ball, reads game well….

     

    Anyway I love watching him play.

     

     

    7 more sleeps by my reckoning to see tge tick again.

     

     

    D :)

  31. bigrailroadblues on

    Good morning all from Govanhill. A fine Sunday in prospect. Had a read back and the night shift were in fine form. No wonder Melbourne Mick went oot tae dubbin his heid. 😂😂

  33. Burnley78 on

    David 66

     

     

    You are correct. 7 more sleeps now.

     

     

    13 more until paradise.

     

     

    Hopefully our international globetrotters and those enjoying recovery time get fit for the final leg of the battle for another treble.

     

     

    The 5th in 7 years and only our 8th ever.

  34. DeniaBhoy on

    This will give Beale more to bump his gums about:

     

     

    “A confidential report into Celtic’s finances has revealed they are on course to announce revenue of £112million for the year ending June, 2023.

     

    That would represent a record annual sum posted by any Scottish football club and shares in the Hoops have subsequently increased to £1.73 – almost seven times higher than the 25p Stuart Gibson paid for each of his 4.2m Rangers shares at the end of January . The report was commissioned by the club’s stockbrokers, Canaccord Genuity Ltd, a global investment bank focused on growth companies with operations worldwide. Their report has been distributed privately to clients. The company suggests that investing in shares in the Premiership champions promises to be a bargain because it believes their price has been undervalued by the markets.

     

    Football finance expert David Low was Fergus McCann’s right-hand man when the US-based millionaire saved Celtic when they were just eight minutes from going to the wall 29 years ago. He studied Canaccord’s figures and, while they are clearly positive for Celtic, they won’t make good reading for their closest rivals in the Premiership title race and opponents in next month’s Scottish Cup semi-final.

     

     

    The financial advantage Celtic have over Rangers is currently greater than it has ever been and Low claims that gulf is only going to become even wider in the foreseeable future. In 2022, Rangers reached the final of the Europa League (losing to Eintracht Frankfurt on penalties) then won the Scottish Cup before qualifying for the group stage of the Champions League. The Light Blues sold Nathan Patterson, Calvin Bassey and Joe Aribo for over £30m yet they still trail their city rivals commercially.

     

     

    Low said: “First of all, the numbers posted by Celtic in their interim accounts were fantastic. Then the projections made by Cannacord for the remainder of the financial year are equally impressive. The turnover of £112m would be a new record, a total which has obviously been boosted by Champions League participation.

     

     

    “Should they hold on to their nine-point lead in the Premiership, that looks like being matched or more likely bettered next season because winning the title will see them automatically qualify again and there is an extra group match in the new-look competition.

     

     

    “The outlook for Celtic is compelling and gives the club the opportunity to put that money to good use in Europe. Canaccord are clearly impressed by the potential to grow that income, otherwise they wouldn’t have recommended their clients should buy shares, which they evidently believe are undervalued at today’s price. As to how that impacts the Scottish game, it means that Celtic are currently further ahead of Rangers financially than David Murray’s Rangers were ahead of the old board when Celtic almost went bust in 1994.”

  36. bigrailroadblues on

    Good afternoon all from the Victoria Bar. A fresh wind blowing through the kingdom of Govanhill. 🥶

  40. Fess19 on

    DENIABHOY on 26TH MARCH 2023 10:23 AM

     

    This will give Beale more to bump his gums about:

     

     

    Lovely read for a mild, but rainy, .Sunday evening. Long may it continue

     

    I see CQN’s Lon Chaney was on and removed during the night.

     

     

    For you young guns Lon Chaney was known as “The Man of a Thousand Faces” early Hollywood. Our equivelant would be Kev J

  41. Canamalar it looks like OCD obsession on

    BURNLEY78 on 25TH MARCH 2023 11:41 PM,

     

    What I’m saying is that it was the safest available, I did say that without a vaccine there was no work here in the UAE. I was not allowed to rely solely on my preferred method of sticking to the daily intake of, 100mg of E3 and 100mg of K2 vitamin supplements. Which I continue to take especially after watching Dr john Campbell’s recent review of the 10 year study done by the Alzheimer’s Society of Canadian that demonstrates the positive effect of vitamin D3 against dementia.

     

     

    The Chinese (Sinovac/Sinopharm) and Russian (Sputnik) vaccines were developed using the traditional tried and tested methods for vaccines, they allow your own immune system to control what and how much is generated and replicated within your body, as opposed to the mRNA which controls the generation and rate of replication of spiked protein antigens.

     

    The traditional method uses dead viral particles too big to leak into the blood vessels from the muscle, it will not be carried around the system into every organ in the body, creating further complications, ongoing research is discovering mRNA is found all over. There is medical/scientific evidence that the mRNA spiked protein antigens can remain in the blood stream for 28 days, peer reviewed Danish research.

     

     

    Irrespective of what many think of the Chinese government I honestly do not believe they pulled 800 million out of poverty to then stop caring about their well being. That thought alone made me consider Sinovac is the safest of all but I was willing to trade that against the Russian stated efficacy of 90%.

     

     

    Efficacy was low compared to the claims being made by Pfizer and Moderna. But for me, that was a positive thing as I really do not trust a thing western big pharma say, I have my own rule of thumb, invert everything western institutions and corporations say and I’ll not be far from the truth. News at the time, that mRNA vaccinated people were contracting the infection after vaccine and some for the second time was the clincher for me, take the least dangerous and rely mainly on my own immune system boosted with the vitamin supplements proven to have a positive impact.

     

     

    Oh and its the same vaccine that the royal families of Dubai took. So I allowed myself to take advantage of their scientific advice.

     

     

    I’ve been deep down the rabbit hole on this, battered every side to make sure I didn’t miss a burrow, looked at many many articles, research papers and institutional announcements and websites, and questioned every single one. My conclusions are formed from 3 years of what I consider reasonable research and still have many suspicions that I can only offer as opinions however. What I can say for sure is, there was an engineered virus, its mortality rate was/is deliberately corrupted, it was used to approve dangerous experimental treatments and big pharma never had it so good.

  42. Art of War on

    BRRB, leg fine mate… can’t say the same for the hip though! 🤣

     

     

    Getting there slowly, thx for asking.

     

     

    Miss watching the Celtic though, international pish is not the same. Yon Hampden is a disgrace.

     

     

    Enjoy your pints….

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