Yesterday the Scottish Football Association announced an independent inquiry into Rangers FC which will report to the SFA board within two weeks.
While it is welcome that the enquiry is independent, it is gravely concerning that the SFA refused to state the scope of the inquiry or indicate if the final report will be made public. An inquiry into the Fit and Proper status of Craig Whyte is moot. An inquiry into last year’s takeover of the club, or how it has conducted its tax business before and after the takeover surely cannot report within three weeks of Rangers going into administration and before the outcome of the tax tribunal is known. So what are the objectives of the report?
The important question the SFA must address is whether Rangers FC improperly registered football players. Rules on the legal registration of football players are clear and well established. All financial compensation offered to players must be part of their contracts, copies of which must be lodged with the club’s national association.
This audio file contains information from Player’s Union representative, Fraser Wishart, who correctly tells Radio Clyde listeners that “in football you’re only allowed one contract, all your earnings from football have to be on that contract”.
The same audio file has excerpts of football journalist, Darrell King, repeatedly telling Radio Clyde listeners that Rangers players involved with EBTs “had two contracts”. This assertion has not been subject to challenge by Rangers.
The major question for the SFA is whether, as alleged by Mr King, Rangers FC played improperly registered players from around 2000 until the expiry of those contracts, some of which are likely to still be active. While they are doing so, it would be useful to extend the inquiry to examine recent contracts.
My primary concern regarding the inquiry is the role of the SFA president, Campbell Ogilvie, in framing the scope of the inquiry. As we reported yesterday, Ogilvie was general secretary and director of Rangers until 2005. He will be able to answer many of the key questions and, as president, will not only have been able to influence the scope of the inquiry, but will be one of the few who receives the report.
Any SFA inquiry into Rangers FC must report on the key matter in this whole business, the proper registration of football players. Any attempt to exclude matters which could involve Mr Ogilvie must be resisted and would show the entire activity up as nothing more than a sham.
The sporting penalty for playing improperly registered players is a 3-0 defeat in each game. Sion have already tested national and international authorities on this matter and are paying a heavy price for trying to gain an unfair advantage.
The stakes are high for Scottish football. The SFA must demonstrate transparency and the highest possible ethical standards when an inquiry into a member club involves past activities of its president. It also has a responsibility to fans and member clubs to establish and report any improper conduct at the earliest opportunity.
My Ogilvie should step aside as a matter of urgency in order to provide evidence to the inquiry.
In a gesture which tests the boundaries of the word magnificent, the Celtic fan who paid £5000 towards the Vanessa Riddle Appeal for the signed Celtic jersey we auctioned last week asked us to put it back up for auction again.
Auctions are a magnificent way to help get Vanessa the lifesaving treatment she needs but the cost of participating at the business end soon gets out of the reach of many fans. With this in mind, we have started an eBay raffle; you can win the jersey for the cost of a £1, or the entire purchase price of Rangers FC PLC.
There are no excuses to sit this one out, Vanessa needs your help, you would like to own a signed Celtic jersey, and you too can afford the kind of money Craig Whyte used to buy Rangers. Click here to participate.
Thank you for the dozens of response to the request for writers for CQN Magazine. I’m still working through them, will be in touch soon. Issue six, our 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. Fill your boots…..
You can support the online edition by making a discretionary donation here.
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i would have thought the best way to manage how much you pay out, is work out how much you get in!
TFOD lied to their shareholders and to the SFA and to the tax man. They would have done that with a salary or no salary cap!
This is ‘them’ going down the line of, ‘we have been caught out here, and need to make sure that this doesn’t happen again. so lets leave Rangers alone just now, it wasn’t their fault, but if anyone ever does it again, we will make sure they get what they deserve!’
Not raining in West End Phil
I see the sense in keeping a winning team together, however as the going tonight could be heavy, why not give Pawel his debut?
Dunfermline will pack their defence, and if the going is heavy, high balls might be the order of the night.Pavel looks like he’ll provide a bit more physicality and more aerial threat than we have.
If we can’t play him against the bottom side in the league, who can we play him against?
Fassreifen says:
22 February, 2012 at 15:13
Fraser Forster being tipped for England call-up, but the story’s behind the Evening Times’ paywall. Anyone got access?
If you refresh the page, then, while it’s re-loading, stop it by clicking onto the red cross next to the address bar at the top of the page, the page should load.
SPF
BT
Cheers!
It’s been wet in Linlithgow all day and looks like it will be for some time.
Superb tenacity, Paul.
They must be getting heartily sick of you.
Is there a CSC bus to Largs tonight after the game tonight?
Looking for a favour.
EC67
Great article Paul!
We should also bear in mind that the SFA has a dubious track record when it comes to inquiries – remember that not ONE but TWO internal SFA inquiries “cleared” Farry.
It was only the persistence of Fergus that ensured justice was done – however belatedly
The guys named in this inquiry are without doubt top notch and beyond reproach
However as you point out the terms of reference now are all important
If they are confined to a narrow timeframe e.g. the last 9 months since Our Hero took over then they might not find as much incriminating material as they would if that timeframe was longer
As a lay person without legal or accountancy knowledge it strikes me as odd that they could carry out a very detailed or deep inquiry in the space of a couple of weeks – especially since the admin people are only in the door as well
Is this a genuine attempt to get to the bottom of things or a face saving superficial PR job?
HH
kojo –
Virginia ? —–
A blast from my Washington past –
Q — Why are rectal thermometers banned in Virginia?
A ——— They cause way too much brain damage.
Phil
not a nice night in store, wet and windy but no
rain at the moment
btw not the web (pub)
still at work.
Croppybhoy
I agree it doesn’t seem a long time to establish very much about what is actually going on past and present.
My first reaction to the timescale was that Regan wants this out the road before 31st March. The cut off date for the huns and Europen football.
BT
Me too!
Needs must.
Paul
your last blog spoke of duff and duffer and a cabal of MPs looking to lobby Westminster on ragers behalf .
With Uefa rules clear on this ,has the club /sfa made any comment on this situation .
hail hail
Is tonight’s game on the tele anywhere ?
HH
3-0 tonight, hoops to score first. Think Forrest
will pop up with one as well.
Good game to give izzy a run out.
no TV, CL games on.
Ibrox Liveried Attendant… “Gentlemen.. Mr.Whyte, has Died… Unfortunately, He
Passed Away.. In Testicled.
Oh.. Haud the Phone… I mis-spoke.. Make that..
INTESTATE!”
Ibrox Attendees… “Puir wee Sowell.. But.. whit aboot the Club,then??”
Ibrox Liveried Attendant…”Never Fear.. The King .. Is Here”
Ibrox Attendees….. ” We thought the King wiz In Africa?”
Ibrox Liveried Attendant…” He wiz, but he jist goat Permission, tae come here, fae
Parole Officer!”
Ibrox Attendees……. “His Bloody ,Parole Officer??
Oh…Here we Go Again Maw!..
Kojo
Still .. Laughin’
medtim says:
22 February, 2012 at 09:48
More details have also emerged of Whyte’s failure to resolve the “small tax bill” dispute with HMRC.
Through David Grier, one of Duff and Phelps’ partners, Whyte was given a couple of repayment options on the bill, which he agreed to take on when he bought the club.
Grier and the taxman were anxious to find a way of preventing Rangers from toppling, but Whyte didn’t act on either offer.
He was asked to pay £500,000 of the bill upfront and the rest over almost a year, but he wanted to hand over only £250,000 as a down payment.
Grier managed to persuade HMRC to agree to this new arrangement but again Whyte didn’t come up with the cash.
The “small tax bill” is now standing at just more than £4million and was also a factor in forcing last week’s insolvency event.
Question for auldheid (and others) on here who probed the awarding of a Euro licence to rangers for THIS season.
If I remember correctly,the thrust of the argument was thus.
A team should not be granted a Euro licence if they have an outstanding,unpaid,overdue bill to a tax authority.
There is however a “get out” clause if a club in such a position comes to an agreement with the tax authority to pay the bill.
Apparently,rangers had such an arrangement for the “wee” tax bill.
However,Article 66(?) of the Euro rules addresses what should happen if a club defaults/reneges on the agreement ie no licence or licence withdrawn.
They later,much much later lodged an appeal against the whole bill (having previously only contested the penalty element)
This was done AFTER they had commenced playing in Europe
The extract from the DR article above appears to confirm that Whyte reneged on that agreement (also contrary to the sale deal with murray)
Does this now confirm that rangers were awarded a Euro licence through deception?
Is this subject part of the terms of reference for the sfa inquiry?
Question for Paul67.
Paul,I don’t know if you agree with my interpretation of this matter and,if so,you think it worthy of inclusion in any future article or communication with your contacts?
In the midst of so many amazing events in these tumultuous times,it would be easy to forget or ignore this issue,but I continue to hold very strong views on this and suggest it could/should be used if/when the game starts to get even dirtier (as it no doubt will)
Best Regards
medtim
=====================================================================
I think this post needs reposted at regular intervals
LEST WE FORGET .
Auldheid keep up the fight .
hail hail
jock steins celtic – the game is shown over here on Celtic TV, so you might be able to find a sausage i would imagine;)
slainte
tony
It’s a possibility that the reason for the short timescale of the SFA inquiry is that they just want some outside bodies to rubber stamp what they (the SFA) have already discovered.
This could either be some wrongdoing on Ranjurs part or their complete exoneration.
Take your pick which.
Dave King,the Whyte Knight,Sir Minty Moonbeams,Aliaster Johnstone,……………Honestly would you by a car from any of them,forget it never mind I know the answer.
SuperSutton says:
22 February, 2012 at 12:48
31003 says:
22 February, 2012 at 12:30
Has everyone seen THIS
=======================
Not sure if EVERYONE has. But they should. That is HILARIOUS :)))))))
share
It would have been even funnier if the makers had known about the Ticketus funding scam.
My dear,dear,dear,friend.. South of Tunis.
Droll.. Pal. Very Droll!
Never, hoid that wan, afore..
Dae ye mind if Ah Use It? (Nae maitter whit ye say,pal.. He Wull! Oh. He Wull.. ed)
( Zip it!.. Clype!}
Kojo
Still Laughin’
I’d like to see Brozek get a run, see the cut of his Jib..
Afternoon bhoys for a warm hun free mountain,
Paul67
Good leader, keep the pressure on, it will pay dividends in the end, leave them no stone to hide under.
…………………………..
Headtheball says:
22 February, 2012 at 16:35
If I were a betting man, I know where I would be placing my money.
Where do you think ?
Just 15 minutes until the Arbroath CSC bus leaves the station. Last time we played Dunfermline at Home, it was 2-1 going on double figures for us . I expect a barrowload tonight but won`t be disappointed with six or seven.
JJ
just spoke to a mate who’s a social worker and each wednesday is court day up here in Perth.
These two were up today and both received a 4 year ban from ALL UK games involving ANY UK teams.
oh, and 40 hours community service each!
what a week they’re havin eh
HH
Another 5 nil tonight! Come on you bhoys in green :)
Celtic Song sung by the players
HH
Scotpatsfan
Top Man – thanks for that.
Guy at work went into Tesco and bought a Rangers jersey. They deducted ten points off his club card.
Coat is on………….off to mass.
LB
TET
I think the same as you think, I think!
Fergus slayed the blues
Thanks for re-posting.
Glad we are agreed that this is a subject not to be forgotten.
If my assertions are correct (come in auld heid) then the picture as it now appears has only 2 possibilities.
1.the huns pulled the wool over the sfa’s eyes (should a decent audit system at sfa allow such a thing?)If so,they must be exposed and sanctioned as their duplicity,among other things,denied Celtic the opportunity to play and earn £££ from the CL
or
2.The sfa were complicit in this matter and both they and rangers should face sanctions.
Only a wide ranging,independent and transparent investigation into these matters is acceptable.
a matter,I would suggest,for Celtic PLC to pursue,given the adverse impact suffred as a result of this
blantyretim says:
22 February, 2012 at 16:15
Not raining in West End Phil
—–
Did Big Mick fix that roof then?? :-)
HH
Giggs
anyone been on line to the ticket officew boolking system recently.
very very good new features that allow you to zoom in on an area, and it then tells you % available tickets versus how many seats, so from adding it up you can get a fairly confident picture that tonights crowd will be around 47,000, so far.
also you zoom in further and it highlights all the “green” available seats.
very cool.
well ice cream is.
i am in the 67 club tonight for a new first for me tonight.
I will be the wee fat guy , next to a big Freddie flintoff lookalike, allthought dressed smart but casual, i will have my CQN badge on.
say hello.
Hey guys
A friend of mine is looking to hire a skip, very reasonably, very cheap if possible.
Anyone able to help out?
I wonder what r*nkers will give up for Lent
Cheating
Tax dodging
Paying players
Paying creditors
” Whit has Mr. Whyte Done? Has He Made any Difference tae the Ibroxian Predicatment?Has He Helped?.. Virginia .. fae.. Virginia.
” Oh, He Sure Has .”Made a Difference’,pet.. and He ,also.. Has ,indeed.. “Helped”..
Unfortunately… The “Difference” he hiz made..wiz tae His Bank Book..
and.. The “Help” , which he provided.. Wiz.. Tae. .Himsel’!!”
“Thanks, Mister.” Virginia ..fae .. Virginia.
Kojo
Still.. Laughin’
C’mon the hoops
Neil Lennon no1
Lucas zaluska no2