The enormity of the forthcoming SPL Commission report could easily be lost in the ocean of headlines which has engulfed this matter in recent years. I’ve noted below more information from the recent First Tier Tribunal report on Rangers tax case, in an attempt to clarify some of the key issues.
From The Evidence:
“The Appellants’ first witness was Mr Red, a senior member of the group’s tax function. He is a Chartered Tax Advisor and qualified as a tax inspector previously to joining the Appellants.”
“Mr Red insisted in his evidence that the Trust was not a means of “tax avoidance””.
“It was noted in an internal memo prepared by Mr Red dated 8 September 2005 to the Board of MIH that he had described the Trust as a form of “tax avoidance scheme””.
Dissenting opinion from Ms Poon:
The Nature of the Side-letters
“Another strand of evidence being tested was the nature and purpose of the side-letters. Asked about the secrecy surrounding the side-letters, referring to the fact that they were not lodged with the SFA, nor disclosed in the long period of HMRC’s enquiry, Mr Red’s reply was: ‘I still say there is nothing secret about them. We have nothing to hide in these side letters’.
“It is not accepted that there had been no deliberate concealment of the side-letters, in view of how the first side-letter only came to light through the seizure of Mr Berwick’s file nearly four years into the enquiry.
“It is not accepted that the nondisclosure of the side-letters arose from a ‘credible’ view that Mr Red considered the side-letters irrelevant to HMRC’s enquiry. As a former Inspector of Taxes, Mr Red knew, or should have known, that the side-letters were highly relevant to the enquiry.”
“The side-letters showed a form of contractual arrangement, and they proved linkage between the sums contributed into the sub-trusts at the appointed dates and their withdrawal as loans from the sub-trusts as contemporaneous transactions. The contractual aspect and the linkage between the amounts of contributions to the main Trust and the sums loaned had been repeatedly raised in the enquiry correspondence.
“A fair conclusion to be drawn from the circumstantial evidence on the one hand, and Mr Red’s oral evidence on the other, is that the side-letters had been actively concealed. The reason for the concealment might have been, in Mr Red’s view, the side-letters could be incriminating evidence against the impression of the trust operation that he had been trying to give.”
“While not denying the proposition put to him by the Respondents that ‘there’s an overarching contract with each of the footballers, consisting of the written contract and the side letters’, Mr Red maintained that ‘it’s our view that the side-letter or the letters of undertaking do not need to be registered or lodged with the SFA’ (Day 3/31-32).”
So, in evidence, Rangers witness Mr Red, did not deny the proposition that there was an overarching contract with footballers consisting of the declared contract and side-letters, but “it’s our view” that side-letters did not need to be lodged with the lodge SFA. Ms Poon suggests a fair conclusion is the side-letters were “actively concealed” as they could be “incriminating evidence”.
The SFA has issued disciplinary action against many clubs for erroneous registration but no club has ever faced a charge of actively concealing information necessary for proper registration.
The SFA president was a working director of Rangers when “our view” was established and was legally responsible for the club’s actions. As I noted yesterday, but, frankly, can still not comprehend, on publication of this report the president announced himself “somewhat vindicated” by its contents.
Majority opinion:
John McClelland became a board member of Rangers in 2000 (legally responsible for conduct and oversight) and according to Wikipedia held senior board level positions in the electronics industry. He was also a director of the SPL (legally responsible for conduct and oversight) between the company being formed 1997 and 2008.
The majority opinion, which favoured Rangers position in regards to income tax, noted the following about Mr Indigo, who was “a board member of Rangers since 2000. His previous career was in industry, latterly serving in senior executive roles.”
Mr Indigo “acknowledged that he was, however, aware of the overall content of arrangements made with players and did not consider these to be “secret”. He believed that the Trust had been used to pay appearance money and bonuses.”
According to rules established by SPL directors, including Mr McClelland, money paid in connection with football, including appearance money, has to be registered with the league. It also has to be registered with the SFA.
When the Lord Nimmo Smith Commission reports, we will discover if this is what passes as vindication in Scottish football, or if a senior officeholder of the SFA, and others, will be dismissed in disgrace and banned, sine die, from the game.
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I sat down and had a couple of nice cold beers.
The day was really quite beautiful, and the brew ignited some deep thinking on various topics.
I thought about an age old question:
Is giving birth more painful than getting kicked in the nuts?
Women always maintain that giving birth is way more painful than a guy getting kicked in the nuts.
Well, after another beer, and even more deep thinking, I have come up with the answer to that question.
Getting kicked in the nuts is more painful than having a baby and here is the reason for my conclusion:
A year or two after giving birth, a woman will often say “It might be nice to have another child”.
On the other hand, you never hear a guy say: “You know, I think I’d like another kick in the nuts”.
Case closed. Time for another beer.
Cheers!
Ulcyr
Henrik’s Sombrero
And that’s their intellectual who goes on twitter and writes lies about Celtic fans singing.
Deary me.
CURLY
A mate of mine pondered that very issue a wee while back.
Unfortunately,I was actually drinking said beer at the time.
Spat it everywhere……
DeniaBhoy
10:16 on 27 February, 2013
‘One player who doesn’t need an injection of money into his bank is Gerrard – hope he has the decency to hand over all proceeds to a worthy cause.’
#####
I don’t think there’s much doubt about what he’ll do with the money.
‘The dream is to one day have a testimonial at Liverpool,” he said. “Like Jamie did – giving all the money back to people who need it.’
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2011/06/21/liverpool-
It’s disappointing we can’t oblige, it would have been a good trip.
Still it’s a compliment to have been asked, it’s not like he asked us because he needs a team to make up the numbers.
fc-captain-steven-gerrard-dreams-of-charity-anfield-testimonial-100252-28911848/
Live bhoy. You are talking about the Crossways.
Gretna is a funny town, still call it home and still go down regularly but not to the Crossways. It isn’t really a R pub but there will be a number of bears go in it. But there is also a number of guys that pick up the Cleator Moor CSC bus from there. So it is mixed, but has a bad reputation for drugs and associated problems
Ernie – fair play to him. Delighted to hear it.
BT-The Galaxy 3 phone is very good ,most apps free on android,big screen for photos etc.
Gretnabhoy
Decent enough boozer but just had a bit of an atmosphere that day. Ted McMinn had two very scary looking guys with him though. They looked like gangsters!
LB
Is The Pope having a night oot?
Re. the “how good is the Samsung Galaxy?” debate. I’ve got the Galaxy S111 mini. It’s
slightly smaller than the S111, (as the name suggests!), and the screen is absolutely superb. It’s an Android phone, therefore, easy to navigate, and battery use is so much better than my previous phone (HTC Desire). I would certainly recommend it.
Livibhoy
Ted is from Dumfries, In fact is he not dead now? I know he lost his leg/legs and given his time in Glasgow I am sure that he would have been well acquainted with guys from the darker side of town!
Curly
I’m sure during childbirth a hormone is released that enables the mother to forget some of the pain.
Oh were that to be the case for a kick in the haw maws!!!
!!bada bing!!
11:15 on 27 February, 2013
Is The Pope having a night oot?
Horshoe Bar, then the savoy. A familiar route,
Phones ——
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 —– I like it .
Mrs S of T has a Sony Xperia Z —– she likes it.
On train from Kings Cross London to Edinburgh ,must say East Coast Trains service. Is excellent.Having a nice glass of red,any Tims on board,I am in First Class carriage M if you. want a chat and partake in a glass or two.HH.
Fourgreenfields
Match tickets usually available to purchase direct on the official barca fc website
I’m Neil Lennon (tamrabam)
I think we probably have to hang in there until the hostile environment changes but we do need a survival strategy until then. I posted this the other day bu no harm in a repeat.
I was able to buy the perfect season book for this season that fitted my particular circumstances.
1. I was old enough for a concessionary ticket
2. I was going overseas for most of the season.
I paid a bit more than I would have for a Celtic TV subscription and a wee bit more than an ordinary concession based on the previous years price.
For that I got to watch all games, let someone else use my seat but had the option to watch 4 games live if I was back home.
Now what stops that kind of deal being offered to UK mainland supporters are two things
1. The outdated broadcasting restrictions that pretend that attendance at other matches are affected by live broadcasts at the same time (but do not differentiate between “to air” broadcasts (Sky etc) and streaming over the Net to PCs or mobile phones.
2. The emphasis on SB sales as the main income stream. They are the main income stream precisely because alternatives like the one I was able to enjoy simply do not exist.
This emphasis on SB sales ties the club into one big income gathering process once a year. The reason why clubs like SBs is attendances could drop if performances are poor. Yet here we are, playing well, getting results and talking about ways to get bums on seats.
We do not need bums on seats per se, we need to gather income in as efficient a manner as possible that funds a team on the park worth paying to see.
Until such times as we recognise the world has changed since Fergus arrived and rethink the dependence on SB sales we are trying to fix a problem with the same thinking that created it.
Now what I think we need to cultivate is the idea that everybody who supports and watches Celtic, has to pay a reasonable price across the supporting spectrum to do so. It is up to Celtic, as they were able to do in my case, to come up with different ways of the support being able to pay to support as suits their circumstances.
They could start by lobbying to change the 3 to 5 broadcasting blackout which is throttling us and get that little noose loosed from around our heads.
(The following is extra since the above)
The blocked broadcasting hours see
http://www.uefa.com/uefa/events/tv/news/newsid=19817.html
http://www.uefa.com/newsfiles/88494.pdf
Show that it is The Principle outlined in the latter that Celtic could argue against on the basis that pubs are showing games (including our own I believe) between three and five so the rule has been rendered ineffective by technolgy and legal challenge.
Scottish football already suffers by being a close neighbour to England and because of the powerful attraction of the EPL combined by the above we are competing with one hand tied behind our backs.
In Scotland the peculiar nature of supporters is that outside of Celtic (and The Rangers) most clubs are community based clubs with a core support who are unlikely to be deterred from supporting their local club because a game is being televised.
If this might happen because of the nature of a particular televised game freedom to decide broadcasting time should not be constrained by a block blackout.
I’m just about recovering from 4 days of food poisoning – feel like crappola but getting there. It doesn’t half make you feel grateful and Miki67 I feel for you and think you are amazing. Don’t hesitate to give us updates, or larrybhoy, i want to know how you and your family are doing.
rebelbhoy72
Thanks mate . Had a look there , couldn’t find 2 together and getting flights to suit wasn’t easy either .
Just thought someone on here might have used one of these match day package company’s and could recommend .
Cheers again for replying .
HH
Fanapatriot
Was talking to the Postie this morn, told me that you were enquiring about any utterings from LNS.
We are convinced that it is happening tomorrow……..so relax, enjoy the journey and the vino, safe in the knowledge you will be home for the big party!!!
I see various folk discussing Financial Fair Play and alluding to the assorted huge/ massive/ unfair etc debts of Real and Barca.
There is too much info available on the internet to allow this misconception to continue.
Real’s net debt – cash borrowed to support operations offset against cash – is €30M against a turnover of €514M. They have been profitable for 6 years in succession.
Barca’s figures are a little less terrific, but their net debt figure is €99M on a turnover of €485M, and is expected to reduce further under the policies adopted following Laporta’s exit.
The issue is clouded because of disingenuous reporting. When stating the ‘debt’ of these teams, many journos are in the habit of throwing all liabilities into the pot, from deferred season ticket sales, to players’ contractual entitlements, to trade creditors.
Because these two teams turn over more cash than all other football clubs in the world, naturally their outgoings are proportionately higher. The reporting of total liabilities is a distortion of the picture, and not repeated when the finances of ‘British’ clubs are reported, thus disingenuous reporting feeds a misinformed public.
The major issue these clubs have is not debt, it is TV. Because the Spanish clubs sell their rights individually, Barca and Real get the lions share of the broadcasters’ cash, and then some. Each gets about €140M per year, while the remaining 18 La Liga clubs share a total of €375M between them – average €20M.
With so many Spanish clubs in the financial grubber, change to a collective model is likely sometime in the near future.
Nevertheless, both Real and Barca are prudently run clubs these days, spending less than they generate, running profitably, and producing some pretty good football to boot.
TBB
Gordon_J backing Neil Lennon 10:08 on 27 February, 2013
“Maybe Stevie G could get The Rangers for his testimonial? It’s not as if they will have European qualifiers to worry about …”
Rangers were banned from Merseyside by the local police force after the trouble they cause in a European preliminary match with an Irish club about 15 years ago.
Obviously Rangers don’t exist anymore but many of their fans TUPE’d over to Sevco and I’d imaging the sine die applies to the group of Rangers clubs rather that the 1872-2012 version.
And even if it doesn’t, I think Sevco have some important Harry Ramsden Cup business to take care of in September.
fourgreenfields
What game are u looking at. What dates and il have a browse..im on a go slow in work today :)
FourGreenFields
quite often cheaper flying from edinburgh to barcalona and it means you get into the city airport ten minute taxi to town
hotels
http://www.hotelomm.es/en/
http://www.hotelneri.com/en/
http://www.hotelcram.com/
http://www.abacbarcelona.com/
should be ’caused’ and ‘imagine’ – doh!
The Battered Bunnett – Good perspective. Although I remember a good few years back a story doing the rounds that Madrid had massive debts that were wiped out when the City/Govt bought their ground off them for a fortune (to wipe out the debt) and now lease it back to them for a pittance. No idea if it’s true or not.
can i have raspberry on that champions league ice cream
Ah the ole Sticky Carpet …….those were the days.
4 greenfields…10-32 there is a chap on twitter @BarcaJim
He would be the best bloke to speak to
Archdiocese Glasgow@ArchdiocGlasgow
Full text of Holy Father’s final moving speech at this morning’s general audience http://bit.ly/YDsvDo
Burghbhoy
Thanks for that,will have a nice red decanted ,ready for tomorrow.HH
Can Stevie G not arrange the game for another date? I would love to take my son to Anfield, the atmosphere would be fantastic.
C’mon Celtic, sort it out!!
HH
Deniabhoy
The following gives a little more insight into the deal between Real and the City, a bit more complex than I remembered myself, and a little less dodgy than was portrayed, but doubtless a few hands were squeezed and palms greased along the way.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciudad_Deportiva,_Madrid
Morning all,
Have you ever considered refusing to pay your TV licence on the grounds of inaccurate or misleading reporting by the BBC?
http://www.reinvestigate911.org/content/court-victory-protestor
!!bada bing!!
11:51 on
27 February, 2013
can i have raspberry on that champions league ice cream
Ah the ole Sticky Carpet …….those were the days.
The carpet was a challenge I could defeat but single mothers from the Greater Glasgow area was a weakness I could never refuse.
Deniabhoy
I heard that story too. My understanding was that the Spanish Government paid €300m for the car park, and leased it back to them for €1 p.a..
Nice piece of business. Must be great being the “Establishment’s” favourite club!
Juventus news —–
Just heard Conte on the radio -.
He said he’ll think about Celtic after Friday night’s game away to Napoli . He added that the line up v Celtic will depend on the result in Napoli …
Conte is to be questioned [ yet again ] by the relevant authorities re his version of the story in the Calcioscommesse scandal…
Media are still floating rumors that Conte will leave and go to Chelsea
For those going to Torino —– the long term forecast says Rain — High 3 / Low 2
Saw Maradonna on the tele last night . Visiting Naples to talk to the tax man but finding time to state – ” I am better than Messi “. Much hype that Diego will be the next Manager of Napoli -support seem split —- either great ! or great player but seems to be a useless Manager -no thanks .
Lovely day but there’s a cold wind . 13 degrees -way down south
TBB – As our clubs policy is one of signing young prospects, developing them and punting them at a huge (hopefully) profit down the line, what happens then if the EPL does indeed go down the swanny?
What impact would that have on said policy?
If clubs in England do go bust – and I believe that some will – then that leaves us with a vastly reduced market.
It would be a more level playing field in Europe – bar the two wee Spanish teams you mentioned – but I believe that Celtic would find it difficult to attract young talent as they appear to do now, without the attraction of EPL and BIG wages.
I think we’ll be back to home grown talent.
Thoughts?
Jonny the tim
Lots of rumours and fantasies about the deal. Read the link. The deal was investigated by the EU following anonymous complaints from other clubs. The EU found the deal to have broken no rules regarding state aid etc.