For a football club to be licenced to play in Uefa competition it has to be up to date with social taxes. The SFA oblige clubs to make them aware of any overdue taxes, but if this information is withheld, or falsified, the Association have no powers to act.
In evidence at the trial of Craig Whyte at the High Court in Glasgow on 25 April 2017, former Rangers director, Donald McIntyre, was cross-examined by another former Rangers director, Donald Findlay.
McIntyre was shown a document dated 2010 from HMRC to Rangers saying tax for PAYE and National Insurance was due on Rangers Discount Options Scheme (DOS), involving players Tore Andre Flo, Craig Moor and Ronald de-Boer was “payable in full”.
His evidence under oath was clear, Rangers accepted liability for unpaid PAYE and National Insurance claims in connection with the Wee Tax Case (DOS) in 2010, telling the court, they had “no choice but to accept liability” at that stage.
Despite this, the club submitted their licence application without informing the SFA of their overdue social taxes. This enabled them to take Scotland’s Champions League qualification spot and for the chance to earn £20m. If they were ineligible, Celtic would have taken the qualification place. This is the issue raised as Resolution 12 at the Celtic AGM in 2013 by campaigners who sought to shed light on the incongruous eligibility of Rangers for European competition in 2011. The SFA stonwalled the campaigners until McIntyre’s evidence was heard in open court.
Rangers DOS scheme for three players (Flo, Moore and Ronald De-Boer) was not subject to the SPL’s Lord Nimmo Smith Commission inquiry and has not, thus far, been investigated.
A condition of their SFA membership application, then Sevco (now Rangers) agreed to be liable for some of Oldco Rangers football liabilities and penalties.
Yesterday, the SFA issued a Notice of Complaint against Newco, which the club states relates to “the monitoring period subsequent to the grant of the UEFA licence.” Adding, “This new Notice of Complaint neglects to properly capture the provisions of prior agreements made between the Club and the SFA.”
The “prior agreements made between the Club and the SFA” likely refer to the Five Way Agreement, between Rangers, Sevco, the SFA, the SPL and the SFL. This agreement attempted to isolate the new entity from certain activities of Oldco Rangers last majority owner, Craig Whyte – known as the “CW Exempt Acts”.
The Five Way Agreement, however, does not protect Newco from what is referred to as “CW Enduring Acts”. Specifically, “The SFA, Sevco and RFC hereby agree that on Completion Sevco shall, other than with respect to the CW Exempt Acts, become liable and responsible for the purpose of imposition of sanctions by the SFA for any and all acts and/or omissions of RFC and/or Rangers FC.” The Five Way Agreement was not a blank cheque.
A CW Enduring Act, among other things, includes “corruption, fraud….. or any matter similar in its reprehensible nature…… which acts or omissions are of at least equal gravity to those found to have been committed by or engaged in by RFC”.
Newco’s initial defence against the Notice is likely to be that this crack at a £20m Champions League slot is not of sufficient gravity to be determined as a CW Enduring Act. By bringing the charge, the SFA compliance officer clearly believes differently.
A few notes:
We only have Newco’s statement yesterday to indicate what the Notice applies to – they suggest the monitoring period, and then, only after 6 May 2011, the period in which Craig Whyte had majority ownership (although Dave King was still a director). The statement was not entirely coherent (a different Notice of Complaint was issued 8 months ago but has been dismissed?). It is also possible the statement was written in haste, and confused a written agreement with the SPL, not the SFA. I would not put too much emphasis on this statement.
There may well be a Sandy Bryson, waiting in the wings to offer an innovative interpretation of the rules that absolves Rangers from all sins. On the positive side, there is no Campbell Ogilvie to protect in this case, and the SFA have been happy for Craig Whyte-related issues to stick.
It is clear that the only issues Newco can be charged with during the period from 6 May 2011 until liquidation, are CW Enduring Acts – and they are “reprehensible [in]nature”. If the charge stands there cannot be a token punishment. I expect a multi-year European ban.
It is hard not to be cynical after Bryson, but this issue has persisted for so many years and has not gone away.
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SOUTH OF TUNIS
Exactly!
KEVJ 1202
(Previous article)
Stay strong,son. Stay around. Always be grateful for what you have-I’m not attempting to be preachy by saying that!-and it sounds like you still have a lot.
HH
SOUTH OF TUNIS on 16TH MAY 2018 12:51 PM
UEFA regard them as a new club, the Res12 guys have proof of that in a letter they received from UEFA so why would they punish a dead club?
BTW I’m not having a go at Res12 guys I actually think what they have achieved is unparalleled in the history of Scottish football, it’s will surpass the achievements of FAC and they should be applauded for their efforts in exposing the curuption that has blighted our game.
I remain convinced though that unless the press get onside we will not get the outcome that the Res12 guys deserve.
Firstly, best wishes to LR67 for a full recovery – stay off the burger n chips!
Secondly, well done to the Res. 12 bhoys for their persistence.
Thirdly, does anyone remember some talk about this situation with oldco effectively resulting in a conspiracy to defraud a public limited company? The SFA will do SFA, but the City of London police are supposed to investigate PLC fraud.
Fourthly (?) – God Bless TTTTTB
Anyone know if our seeding is affected if Marseille win the EL but finish outside the CL places in the league?
I think @ EDDIEINKIRKMICHAEL has a valid point that if it does not go to a wider audience then we will get another fudge.
We are not in an international sense as relevant as Celtic have been in the past.
Four years of very poor European results have not helped and neither has the decades long decline of our international team.
It’s horrible to realize that small clubs like Bournemouth now realistically think they can buy our best players at knockdown prices.
History has become irrelevant in the fraudulent financially doped modern football landscape.
Turd polishing is the new norm.
No punishment will happen. Just a load of waffle… They are Scott free,, £150M wioped out same directors got back on board no titles stripped. Clubs say nothing including Celtic
Do Level 5 have the SFA as clients? I wouldn’t rule it out….
No Europe No Gerrard
Thats a pity I was looking forward that comedy.
KevJ – great post to LionsRoar; especially from someone who doesn’t have his own struggles to seek. Hopefully the strength of prayer will get you through.
Does your parish not have people to assist those who cant’t get to Mass under their own steam?
KTF
GLASSTWOTHIRDSFULL on 16TH MAY 2018 1:21 PM
We are confirmed to be seeded through to the final (4th) qualifying round should we reach that stage. Others so seeded are Salsburg, Ludogorets and PSV.
Top teams expected to reach that round but to be unseeded are Young Boys and Apoel Nicosia.
https://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/seedcl2018.html
For those of you who missed it, news about the New St Mary’s Hall – a permanent tribute to Tommy Burns is on http://www.celticdayone.com
The 10th Anniversary Mass was recorded last night and details of where it can be viewed will be available soon.
The Mass was very well attended with the family joined by representatives of the club along with ex-players – Tosh McKinley, Peter Grant, Danny McGrain, Andy Walker, Billy Stark and a few others; I can’t name-check them all because I didn’t get the time to see everyone.
It was great to see St Mary’s full to pay tribute to Tommy.
KTF
? on
A wonderful tribute to a great man:)
KTF
Thanks HRVATSKI Jim
I see fairly big names that are unseeded in 3rd Round that we could also meet….
Borisov Bate
Dynamo Zagreb
AEK Athens
This will be a tough shift for us.
They’re really pretty adept at cherry picking when it suits them to claim they are/ aren’t the same club/ Company:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-44126217
Good Morning bhoys,
Kev J , I seen your post. God bless ye bhoy. Im at gutterkid1 at hotmail dot com if ye ever need me.
VFR,,I got around to checking out that website and then have followed your posts about the hall. First off pat yerself on the back son, well done. Thats yourself and BRTH not to mention Cowiebhoys daughter ( probably missed some also ) all out on good causes,,its fantastic and the spirit of Celtic is clearly alive.
Next I would like to help so please contact me on above email. What a fantastic cause and Tommy was special to me also. Still think he woulda headbutted walter or at least his sidekick over the ebts.
I do have a football related question for you as you would know more about Scottish football than me.
In the event Sevco do not gain entry to Europe for a few seasons ( whether it be banned or death, doesnt matter ) Aberdeen would be the next challenger.
Where would you say they are operating at in terms of their maximum ceiling ?
Would the access to the improved wealth being second brings kick the club on ,, would they pay off the stadium or possibly just pocket it as dividends ? Any thoughts on whether they could step ahead of the rest with those funds ?
If smart they could overtake Sevco in the long run,,if Sevco get banned and survive that is. A few clubs could probably say that .
I read the news about a new invitation only tournament that will give the top clubs another 100 million at least to further break away from the pack. Its disgusting now.
https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/fifa-planning-new-24team-club-world-cup-report-36912073.html
I myself am wary of dominance especially the kind of dominance we are witnessing domestically primarily because other sports and leagues actively go out of their way to try and stop this.
I recently found this NYT article which is a couple months old and mentions us in relation to dominance and basically goes on to say its not good to see a dominant team in the long run.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/sports/soccer/uefa-champions-league.html
Some key exerpts from that article are
““The club could annually buy the best young players in the country, develop them and sell them on to Russia or to Europe.”
It is a business plan that has been perfected by Dinamo Zagreb, for so long Croatia’s perennial champion. Dinamo’s “core business,” said Aleksandar Holiga, the editor of the Croatian website Telesport, “is not football, but developing talent for sale.”
“Dinamo does everything to win the league and try to reach the Champions League group stage, the cash cow,” Holiga said. The aim, once there, is not necessarily to qualify for the knockout rounds, but to use the exposure to promote the club’s rising young stars on the big stage.
Soon enough, a club from one of Europe’s cash-soaked major leagues will be coaxed into an offer, giving Dinamo an even greater financial advantage over its rivals. Luka Modric, Mario Mandzukic and Mateo Kovacic, among many others, have taken this route.
“Dinamo has been able to live off UEFA prize money and big transfers,” Holiga said. The income has been so great that — until last year — all of its rivals simply were swept into its wake.
This sounds very much like what we are seeing. It ends by pointing out the new tech generation will just watch the video of the player they like ie Ronaldo rather than leave home and go to see a local game. This dilution of traditionally hard core support areas is well under way. I fear we will become as above ,, a cash cow with a procession to the league annually.
A super league type thing might help. How long have we been hearing the bubble is about to burst though.
I guess its all we can do to drift along and see what path the “ beautiful “ game is taking and where we end up.
Hail Hail
Hrvatski Jim
Thanks for that. Probably still a few banana skins, but should avoid the top sides at least.
Just saw England’s 23 man World Cup squad … has to be the weakest England squad I can remember …. a lot of young kids who have shown some promise with a few over the hill vets (Gary Cahill, Ashely Young)… but very few world class players (Harry Kane) ….
cant see t his England team giving any of the big boys a scare …
Shame for big Fraser Forster not to make it …. he doens’t seem to have been the same keeper since he hurt his knee a few seasons ago
The enduring acts of Craig Whyte. There’s a very useful tin lid on it with that legal definition of the nefarious results of years of chicanery and a Houdini escape by those who steered Rangers through the 90s and 00s.
Rangers under the premiership of David Murray et al saw fit to take the advice of a lawyer with a penchant for porn film making and dodgy tax advice. The tax avoidance was not isolated to not paying monies due to the HMRC but extended to covering up the contracts to the SFA and their competitors. Rangers saw fit to ignore requests from HMRC for evidence of actual payments and hid the evidence or shredded it before police looked for it. These are matters of fact recorded in the BBC documentary by Mark Daly and also recorded in the transcript of the first tier tax tribunal.
Also recorded as fact – evidence that the SFA were asked by HMRC for copies of Rangers players contracts that they had. The HMRC letters and requests to the SFA should have alerted them to what Rangers were up to. (IF they didn’t know before!)
There is also the circumstantial evidence that Celtic were negotiating with players who were also being pursued by Rangers – it’s unlikely that agents or the players themselves were not telling Celtic they were getting the same deal with no tax deducted over at Ibrox? Also Gordon Smith players agent then Ibrox board and mysteriously hired as the SFA Chief Executive. Gordon Smith would have known some details of player contracts and as the head guy of the SFA he never connected the rules with the salary and contracts of Rangers players? This is before we even get to Ogilvie, Andrew Dickson, Sandy Bryson or Any other of the numerous personnel employed at both the SFA or Rangers!
Celtic have done very well out of all of this but 7 8 9 10 … x in a row should not come as some form of sop for those years of Machiavelli.
For every twist and entanglement of the Rangers saga there’s an underlying sinew of guilty sore exposed … but with a sticking plaster passed around each wound.
The meticulous planning, himming and hawing and gnawing of Rangers fingernails comes back to a greed to win a sporting contest and a love of money. How disgusting and despicable must you have to be to create and agree to the creation of a Frankenstein. I can only hope that the legislators take note of the monster the SFA have created in the name of Sport and never allow it to happen again.
Rangers as we know are a Phoenix… a re start of the same – the SFA & SPFL added the vital ingredients and gave rise to this entity at odds with the law. The SFA and all who live under Scots Law in this country who recognise Rangers as the same Rangers are living at odds with the law. What is the reason for the law? It’s not so that you can wind up some Rangers fans until eternity! It’s there to protect against companies and Directors building and dumping debts to restart again a few moments later under the same name!
When you have folk like Doncaster, David Leask or whoever stating that Rangers are the same club they should be reminded that if that is the case then it goes against the law in Scotland. Again laws are created for no reason.
Off topic but interesting nonetheless,
Where are the “Pray for Gaza” hashtags?
Or the “I am Gaza” or “Je Suis Gaza” posts?
Does collective humanitarian solidarity not apply when 57 Palestinians are killed?
David17
Well said
Dont do twitter myself but it should be done
VFR
We still ok for our 1pm date in Coias in saturday
I will probably be just dashing in grabbing my ticket and vroom vrooming
Barrach Obampot @12:02
Great effort there. The other day though, BRTH told me I was “100% wrong” when pointing out that the Rangers team that “won” the league on Light-Grey Sunday at Easter Road was comprised completely of improperly registered players.
Here’s his reasoning. Maybe get you typing again!
BROGAN ROGAN TREVINO AND HOGAN on 12TH MAY 2018 8:07 PM
Beatbhoy
“At the risk of sounding like a broken record and a bleeding know all, you are 100% wrong about us throwing away a title while there were 11 improperly registered players playing at Easter Road which should have resulted in an auromatically declared 3-0 result.
I have been battering at this particular door for 5 years now and poor oul Auldheid has had to listen to my ravings.
LNS and all that he said was wrong but everyone focuses on the Bryson interpretation, the No Sporting Advantage arguments, and the totally incorrect premise that the EBT transactions were legal.
Of course, LNS also never considered the Wee Tax Case Tax Dodge and was nominally prevented from doing so because the dates of his remit were changed before he started.
Further, not that long ago there was all this talk of a judicial review of LNS and, with respect to those who came up with and wanted to pursue the idea, this never proceeded because it was legally incompetent and never going to succeed.
So, let’s go back to the fundamentals because this whole thing, in retrospect, is really very simple.
Bryson gave rise to the notion that a player could be registered “properly” or indeed “improperly” and we all know that his evidence was that the players registrations were valid but imperfect.
Setting aside the argument about whether an imperfect registration can ever amount to a registration, the very fact that Brysin was giving evidence at all must be questioned as he is an SFA an commenting upon an SPFL registration process.
However, the fact of the matter is that a player can only be registered with any football body by a properly and validly licensed club — and that is the big BIG issue that has never been grasped in the last 6 years.
Forget whether players were properly regisitered of otherwise in terms of LNS or without, the big question is “Were Rangers Football Club a properly licensed club” from the years 1999 onwards until liquidation.
As previosuly stated, any kind of licence can only validly be granted by the Licensor if the application is made in good faith, with no material ommissions, and with no untruths. The application istself must comply with the Licensing Body’s rules.
If the application is a sham, is based on untruths, or is false in any way then it should be treated as not having been made at all.
That is an argument which was relied on by UEFA in terms of the case against FC Gianinna before the CAS i circumstances very similar to the Rangers case.
If there was no valid application, made in good faith and with full disclosures, then there can be no valid licence, and if there was no valid licence then none of the players could ever be registered let alone regisitered improperly.
Sitting on the new SFA CEO’s desk is a report from the compliance officer about the Rangers application for a UEFA licence in 2011/12.
It will disclose a letter dated May 2011 in which HMRC accuse RFC of submitting falsified PAYE returns from 1999 onwards. HMRC allege those returns to be fraudulent and deliberate. RFC took advice on this and was advised that they had no defence to the allegation.
If the compliance officer finds that the SFA or UEFA were misled at any time in the licensing process then that licence must fall.
Logically, the same must apply to the dommestic licence.
So, going back to your Sunday commentary, what you should really be saying is that on that day Hibs took part in a non SFA sanctioned match because their opposition did not have a valid licence to field a team in any competition irrespective of any player registration issues.
They simply did not have a licence to play and hadn,t had one for years.
Let’s see what the compliance officer says.”
BRTH
Paul
Thank you for laying this matter out in this manner. It makes much more sense now – for me anyway.
To quote someone else “there is so much noise” – that the facts get lost in the froth.
Thanks for giving the petitioners a platform & the support.
……
Barrach O’Bampot
Thanks for your individual field work.
If just one of the clubs you contacted makes its feelings known to Uefa ….
………..
New manager & new beginning?
If you were a decent fan of that team I think you might consider tearing up your season book.
If you were the manager designate to the post of “holder of the poisoned chalice”…
…And you were assured that European footbal was a given, regardless of the state of the squad or financial backing…
…Would you feel more or less comfortable this morning that those blandishments had any significant substance…
Would you consider reviewing your position vis a vis that appoitment?
If you wanted to make a decent fist of your first professional football management role, would you want there to be serious distractions within the club, dysfunction within the board, doubts about financial & legal probity, an Association enquiry, the real threat of a Uefa ban, the recurring haunting of historical sexual abuse claims because the club deny any liability to victims – choosing instead to deflect & deny.
Those who conspire to defraud & cheat will always end up the weaker for their crimes. It just takes time for the debilitation to impact on performance.
Over to you Mr Gerrard.
We all thought you were nuts or desperate before this week began…
Unless you “know” the scaffolding magnate who has allegedly attempted to underwrite the Uefa licence application?
Barrack Obampot
Oh, and as someone oft says, for the avoidance of doubt, I didn’t say “we threw the title away” in 2005. I know fine we were cheated out of it, along with at least 5 more.
Barrach
BARRACH OBAMPOT
Good to see you on mate, tremendous effort, just got back in and saw it:))
HH
Beatbhoy and Starry, cheers bhoys
I posted these details (thanks Paul67 for uploading it for me) in the hope that others would use the info to contact the clubs involved.
The optimism of the action is better than the pessimism of the thought CSC
HH
ps I posted on the Stuttgart fan forum and almost a thousand have read it. The hope is that one of them will take it up with their club. In three different tournaments ineligible players were fielded against them!
Bhoys and Ghirls please email the other clubs as you never know…
Never Give Up CSC
HH
Happy Anniversary to Scott Brown
– Games: 473
– Goals: 37
– Trophies 15
Legend CSC
Real Rainjurz men have balls of steel and brass necks.
And to Levein, Shinny et al. . . . .
Getitrightbroonye.
Shinnie, Shitty, no that it matters.
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 16TH MAY 2018 4:48 PM
Real Rainjurz men have balls of steel and brass necks.
But definitely not hearts of gold.
JOHN51 @ 3:45 PM
Exactly.
I’m going to write back to the administrators of the club not listed to see how they got on with UEFA
HH
TROLLS have slung vile sectarian abuse at Rangers ace Michael O’Halloran after he visited a Catholic church in North Lanarkshire.
The striker was branded a “fenian mhanky b******” after being pictured at Holy Family RC Mossend in Bellshill on Monday.
Trolls aimed abuse at the Rangers ace
He appeared to chat to youngsters about going to a Catholic school.
The church announced the visit on Facebook with a snap of the 27-year-old alongside parish priest Fr James Anthony Grant, and two young men.
It read: “Delighted to have Rangers Striker Michael O’Halloran join us today in Holy Family to talk about his time at Catholic school.”
The photo appeared on Facebook
But the post soon attracted a string of sickening slurs on Twitter.
One user said: “Always knew he was a fenian mhanky b****** probably fiddled way bheast,”
Another added: “I’m hearing the pedo in robes called him Hun Scum for a wee joke.”
But a number of Twitter users rallied around the player, blasting the comments.
One said: “Disgusting abuse directed at Rangers player Michael O’Halloran just because he followed his faith and visited a Catholic church.”
While another commented: “So sorry to hear the abuse Michael O’halloean received all because he visited a Chapel so wrong in so many levels.”
DAVID17
A fair few posts about it. Maybe you should have paid more attention.
PAUL67
Outstanding article,sir. Proud of you for that.
HH