It is 13 days since Celtic Quick News first raised a concern that the SFA were not investigating the alleged improper registration of football players by Rangers FC for a period of over a decade. Our central concern was:
Allegations of players having two contracts had been repeated in the media but it was not known if both alleged contracts were submitted to the SFA in accordance with Player Registration Rules. As fans, we had no authority to check, but with an SFA inquiry into Rangers convened, this seemed like an excellent opportunity to demand answers.
We had two secondary concerns:
The scope of the inquiry led by Lord Nimmo Smith was not made public, nor was there any commitment to make the findings public.
SFA president, Campbell Ogilvie, as a SFA board member, was due to receive the report and could have been in a position to influence the scope of the inquiry. Ogilvie was general secretary and director of Rangers from 1978 until 2005, presenting a clear conflict of interest, which the SFA had not acknowledged.
Subsequent events have moved beyond the association:
The SFA have confirmed Nimmo Smith’s report will not investigate the alleged improper registration of players at Rangers but they have left the door open to a future inquiry into the matter.
The Scottish Premier League have not been so lax and will now investigate the alleged improper registration of players. We can perhaps imply that only one contract per player has been lodged with them.
The Sun and Daily Mail have produced a redacted (second) contract and evidence from a former Rangers director respectively.
Despite the issue being reported throughout all media channels, no one from Rangers, past or present, has denied the existence of the second contracts, or claimed player registrations were valid.
What next:
We await the SPL inquiry.
If found guilty, some punishments are clear. Playing an improperly registered player in any match invalidates the result of the game. A 3-0 win is retrospectively awarded to the opponent. Always. Just as your history books do not record Ben Johnson as Olympic 100m champion for 1988, Scottish football records would be changed.
An offense such as this would be “literally off the scale” to borrow a phrase. The SPL and SFA would need to decide on an appropriate penalty. Sport does not provide many good reference points for behaviour on this scale (Johnson was banned for three years).
The HMRC v Rangers tax tribunal and current financial plight of the club remain huge issues but, if found to be valid, the improper registration of footballers over such a long period has the potential to be the biggest story in the history of Scottish football. The SFA must initiate an immediate inquiry.
Everyone else must simply wonder, what next?
I would like to be the first to congratulate Dundee United on their 2008 League Cup win.
Issue six of CQN Magazine, the Fit and Proper edition, is set to become a landmark collectors item. You can browse the magazine online here but you can buy your own hard copy by clicking on the link below. Read with 20-20 vision…..
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PAUL67
Excellent leader,and for once I wasn’t around to be caught out by your timing!
Just to emphasise your congrats to Dundee Utd,I went to my first Celtic game about 45 years ago,and I doubt I’ve seen a worse case of mibbery than that one.
Seen a few that were on a par with it,though.
The thing that turned my stomach was their delight in robbing a dying man,their chairman,of a deserved trophy.
They deserve what’s coming………
MadMitch on 6 March, 2012 at 13:49 said:
SMG invested £40m in Hertz, the investment was eventually written off.
HH
johnny cash & a son of dan 13.51
:)))))) pmsl
HAIL HAIL
Some of us weep, some of us howl
Knees turn to jelly, but Next! Next!
I was just a child
A hundred like me
I followed a naked body
A naked body followed me, Next! Next!
Administrators plan to sack everybody then visit owl sanctuary. (thumbsup)
papac + goian for me next
Good Morning from Canada fellow Bhoys and Ghirls
Excellent articles as always Paul!
An interesting sidebar to the Ben Johnson reference, a major embarrassment to Canada btw, the official photo of the finish does show Carl Lewis as the winner, with Ben Johnson’s shadow much farther ahead but no actual body, such was the size of the “win”.
Were I a fan of Dunfermline, I would be urging the board to avoid relegation at all costs. And I hope that the SPL/SFA investigations are thorough and comprehensive, with major penalties doled out if the allegations are found to be true. League titles could be awarded to the runner up, but in the case of Celtic, that would seem like a hollow victory. For cup competitions, I can’t see the runner up being awarded the trophy, as too many other factors were in play during the knockout phases (anyone playing Rangers on the way to the final could have won).
Hail Hail!
MadMitch on 6 March, 2012 at 13:49 said:
Oops !! typo there, investment was circa £10m
apologies
If I am correct Rangers have nearly a fortnight to go before there next match so it doesnt really matter to much who goes or who stays today.The real crunch imo will be the 16th March if there are no seious bidders for the club (and I seriously doubt if there will be ) that is when the most stringent cuts are likely to take place and even liquidation cant be ruled out on that date.H.H.
ASonOfDan @ 13:19,
A would’nae be too happy if Richard Cramer was my brief, it states in the SPL rules that it prohibits payments to be made unless…., what difference does it make if they are discretionary, they are not allowed that’s what prohibited means.
Add to that the fact that the side letter indicates these payments are far from discretionary and the veracity of R Cramer’s argument is zilch in my unlearned opinion.
Rangers’ financial troubles turn out to be hilarious “Brewster’s Millions” type stunt. (thumbsup)
We’re told that 75% cuts across the wage bill would reduce the wage bill by the £1M required ie the wage bill is roughly £1.35M/month or around £330k/week, so down to £80k/week. For the whole squad.
If there’s a minimum cquad size dictated by the SPL I can’t find it, but lets say they go forward from here on with a 1st team plus spare goalie, 1 sub for each area of the pitch and a couple of youngsters to fulfil the young player rule. 17 players
So they need to bring the average wage down to £4.7k/week per player. That’s going to be tricky if they want to field a team capable of finishing fourth.
Papac understood to be applying for Jimmy Bell’s kitman position on account of similar ‘pasty’ complexion.
Whyte is part of the TV programme, “The Secret Millionaire.”
Once all this is done he’s going to give them the money.
Are the quintessential broon brogues of dignity under threat?Can the admin dudes wield the axe on them?Where would they be able to find another pair of unsurpassed feet?And the cardigan,what about the cardigan? ;-)))))))
LALALOVINITcsc
Neveralone
Sound reasoning which I suppose leads me to continuing to watch this car crash.
LeftClicktic
Magic.
Will they reduce themselves to having one star on the Jersey now :-)
Portsmouth and a few others can join them.
“Administration Stars………Just like a European Cup”
Aye, Fat Sally is great indeed
Mucker
garcia lorca on 6 March, 2012 at 13:18 said:
I beg to differ.
There are the RFC non executive directors to consider in all of this on top of Sir DM ( the architect of the dark arts ).
The role of certain well known banking executives who helped fund this corporate hubris.
—
I agree I was merely pointing out another level of corruption not exposed yet. This is probably the last and potentially the biggest story football wise in relation to RFC’s ever growing list of infamy. Of course the spiders web covering the EBT’s is wide and covers all types of creepy crawlies from RFC staff to bank officials
Hail Hail
bargain hunt? players under the hammer? a hun in the sun? big bother? come Sign with me ? the only way (out) is ibrox Hun walks every minute, Dancing on thin ice? sponsored by “cheerios”?
KLV
A wee tune to cheer us up!! <0) Follow follow the bouncing ball!!! <0)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-dNsJaJ_nY
Will they also lose their company cars?
Is Minty park on a bus route?…wan and a half tae the too n mate!
…and not a peep from wee davie!
“Administration Stars………Just like a European Cup”
It is eerily reminiscent of the last European cup final they played in.
2008: Huns sack Manchester
2012: Administrators sack huns
(thumbsup)
Best news of the day.
Scott Brown back v United.
We’ve really missed that boy.
Michael Mols’ wife to come in as first team physio.
All first team squad members have now said they’ll now leave voluntarily!
This Charles Paterson guy at Murray Pk.looks as if he’s been told he’s getting the boot never mind the players.
philvisreturns 13:54
lol. Brilliant and entirely apt.
Someone mentioned the `honest mistakes’ during Mowbray’s tenure.
Here’s a wee link that was posted on here last year. Still worth a look (once the dust has settled today).
http://top50honestmistakes.blogspot.com/
HH
The three others????
Mmmmm
Goin? Bocca? Laff?
Michael Mols to be new kitman ?
Spot the difference.
Tango emdae??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orCiC9-p7yE&feature=related
Philvis,
History almost repeating itself
Magic
Mucker
Wee davie who?
Charlie on SSN speaking v well about Wylde
…so can we now take it as read that the fabric of scoddish fooooball has been well and truly soiled?
Which of these Sunday Post-like statements makes you laugh more
“132 years of unsurpassed dignity” or
“We doin’t do walking away”?
Which one is the more untrue?
greenmaestro on 6 March, 2012 at 13:38 said:
Wonder what are the odds on Dundee United finishing 3rd in SPL behind Motherwell.
11/1 with Paddy Power for betting outside of Us and “Them”. Good shout that.
emsh @ 13:40,
Thanks for the clarification.
For anyone not interested in Celtic News, just scroll by O;-)
Interesting to see how the response to Scott Brown`s return to the team is now compared to a year ago. I believe that this is not simply to do with an improvement in Broonie`s play but a growing awareness of just what he brings to the team. His presence is very important.
JJ