In his Christmas Day message last year, Uefa president, Michel Platini spoke in the firmest terms possible about many of the issues facing Scottish football right now.
He told us that 2011 was “one of those years where one feels the weight and magnitude of one’s responsibilities, but which equally serves to provide greater strength. Because, the just cause – however difficult it may be – is all the more obvious.”
This is a strong statement of intent. Platini fully understands the position of president is not ceremonial, it has weighty responsibilities. If he believes these specific words, “the just cause – however difficult it may be – is all the more obvious”, he must take an immediate active involvement to protect the game in Scotland.
M Platini goes on to say, “To be a president is not to have an organisation at one’s service, but to be at the service of an organisation, of a game, of football.”
Scottish FA president, Campbell Ogilvie, who has been inextricably linked to the on-going improper registration of Rangers players allegations his organisation declined to investigate, would do well to consider these words. He is in place to serve the game yet he has offered us no information on the subject.
Michel then added, “It has been a year which has underlined the importance of our organisation [Uefa] as one of the guarantors of the values, stability and equity of this sport.”
Uefa guarantee the values, stability and equity of football. They do not work towards equity, they ensure it is imposed, you have the president’s word.
“It has been a year in which certain of our national associations have had to take courageous decisions to preserve the justice and integrity of our sport.”
Here, Michel could be speaking about the SFA, who have to take courageous decisions to preserve justice and integrity in the face of gross charges of financial and regulatory doping on a scale not seen anywhere in Europe.
His most important comment, which reflected on 2011, was:
“A year in which we have also had to remain solid and defend our values – sometimes alone – to guarantee the respecting of the rules and the equity of the competitions, and to prevent football becoming a hostage of a few for their own profit and interests.”
“Respecting… the rules and the equity of the competitions”. This includes player registration rules.
More importantly, “to prevent football becoming a hostage of a few for their own profit and interests”.
This is where we are today. Football in Scotland has become a hostage of a few who will follow their own interests, not those values Michel Platini holds dear.
The president goes on to say that 2011“has been a year in which, unfortunately and at the expense of certain agonies, football has emphasised its need for transparency and governance, aspects which are so important in relation to the respect which is so dear to me.”
There may be other countries in Europe more deserving of M Platini’s intervention, but the crisis in Scotland is acute and urgent, and the SFA appear overwhelmed. We need the oversight only Uefa can provide and its president promised in his Christmas message.
For an extended synopsis of how we got to where we are, catch up on Saturday’s blog.
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Garngad
Who is the St Mirren fan?
Incidentally, my first four years of life were in the Garngad.
JJ
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/mar/12/paul-mcbride-funeral-glasgow-mourners?newsfeed=true
Hope it is not inappropriate to post this, which makes me feel unutterably sad.
May God bless him.
Think we’re clutching at straws now, UEFA aren’t going to do rangers, neither are FIFA, HMRC, SNP, SFA, SPL or the polis, they are going to walk free as a bird, saved by the admin guys, who have declared from day one that was their mission, and of course soon to be Sir Alistair and his hero players,
Personally I think pressure has been brought upon HMRC by the SNP and that even the big tax case will eventually be sorted in their favour,
pretty soon once the dust settles they’ll be talk of a movie, rangers must not die, starring wee sleekit face playing himself even probably telling us that Al Pacino wanted the role but the film makers insisted sleeko got the part as demanded by the peepul, all profits being donated to RFC…..
…just as feasible as UEFA coming to the rescue imo.
Ah, well. I did try to get us talking about Celtic again but I accept defeat. Rangers` woes are all that matter.
JJ
The Moon Bhoys on 13 March, 2012 at 08:27 said:
////
My view is that, anti-catholic racism levels will rise to unprecedented high’s.
Even for this country.
Possibly the loss of catholic lives.
All so that a set of football fans can sing songs about – Jelly & Ice cream ?
NOTHING, is worth that! IMO!
We as Celtic fans, if we don’t already know, must realise that, WE as Celtic fans, will always be the INTERLOPER’S in Scotland/hunland!IMO!
Dangerous days/nights lay ahead.
Please go safely about your business.
Hail! Hail!
May God Protect ‘Everyone’ Of US.
Paul 67
I apologise if I broke the blog.
Too sensitive – CSC
Whilst there appears to be the lull before the storm, a call out to Bhots and Ghirls in the Swindon and Thames Valley hinterland. There is an ‘Evening with John Hartson’ charity supper at Swindon Town FC on Thursday 22nd March 7pm. Supper, comedian and auction all for a fantastic £15.
All proceeds to the Great Western Hospital Breast Cancer Centre.
Please contact me for tickets by leaving a post for Paul67, who will forward you my email.
HH
Celtfish
GoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooD
Morning………………………………………………………………………..
C…………………………………………..
Q………………………………………
N……………………………………………….
BigJoeindaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaBLOG
KevJungle – “Lennons Lions Get Ready To ROAR!!!” on 13 March, 2012 at 08:45 said:
Fear not old bean,and never worry.
Oil rich cabals from as far away as the Middle East and Texas are falling over themselves,to invest in,and to save R*angers…as we speak.
Rumour also has it that oil companies from Italy are also interested…olive oil is a multi-billion dollar industry.Bus magnets,binmen,ticket touts…you name it.
Offers coming over the phone,as Glenn Campbell once sang.
Sixteen roads to Golgotha on 13 March, 2012 at 09:03 said:
///////
LOL :o))
Hail! Hail!
Away to read back the blog
All the best Fholks
Hail! Hail!
Murray ‘will face Rangers ban’
By ROBERT McAULAY
Published: 35 minutes ago
FORMER Rangers director Paul Murray stepped up his bid to buy the ailing club yesterday — as it emerged he will be barred from the board if he’s successful.
Murray, 46 — who heads a consortium dubbed The Blue Knights — will fall foul of SFA rules, it was revealed.
He was axed by owner Craig Whyte nine months before the club went into adminstration but will still face and fail “fit and proper person” test.
A source said: “It is well known how strict the SFA will be with Murray considering he left the club before the Whyte mess came to a head.”
Football beaks have already ruled that Whyte, 41, is a not fit and proper person to run the SPL champs.
And they have ran the rule over Ibrox director Dave King, who is backing Murray’s takeover.
It was confirmed yesterday Murray has also secured support from tycoon Douglas Park.
Meanwhile, bosses of a pension fund said they feared there was an “unauthorised” release of almost £3million of its cash to Gers before administration loomed.
Whyte holds a 7.54 per cent stake in the Jerome Group’s parent company, The Worthington Group.
John Grieg should be allowed back into Ibrox now that Craig Whyte is no longer in situ.
The Moon Bhoys @ 08:23,
Tend to agree on UEFA, unless the SFA are seen to being really partisan and duplicitious in the wrong doing UEFA are not going to take action. In fact they would expect the Association to try and support the Club within the rules and regulations.
However the idea that Insolvency procedures, the litigation proces, the HMRC decrees will some how disapear to accommodate RFC is a nonsense.
Then you have multiple infringements regarding the SFA and SPL some they have already been found guilty off. The fact is the officers of these organisation could be complicit, ensures they will be under huge scrutiny.
This is before you look into the more far out rumours of dark finance and officiating Football matches – remember the Dougie! Dougie! affair was never fully resolved.
No, they have created the perfect storm, R@ngers Loyal stakeholders are trying to get the ships in line but the tempest they have created will engulf them all.
Hail Hail
The lord advocate, Frank Mulholland, said McBride, who “had a contact book better than Simon Cowell’s”, was a master negotiator because he was able to see every argument from his opponent’s side.
——
Who is Simon Cowell?
A question that no…………..1 seems 2 be asking.
Where…………………………………………………….
Is…………………………………………………………
Craig……………………………………………………….
Whyte…………………………………………………………
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????
BigJoewhoWANTS2know……………………………..
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo on 13 March, 2012 at 09:11
This fit and proper person lark is confusing the life out of me, anybody who even considers getting involved with that mob is by definition unfit and improper.
http://www.hectorsgonnaegetye.soon
Big Joe on 13 March, 2012 at 09:17
our hero was last seen going round in circles whilst riding a racing bike in what was historically known as the ibrox trophy room, this room now holds five industrial sized shredders
the administrators however are just going round in circles
Daily Record exclusive…Daily Record understands that…Allegedly…Rumour has it…Sources have told the Daily Record…
Texas Oil Baron Jed Clampett Set To Invest Billions In Stricken R*angers!
Black gold that is,Texas tea…
Welcome to the circus.
Slan.
Sixteen roads to Golgotha on 13 March, 2012 at 09:22 said:
+++++
Shared on couponbook :-)
Big Joe, all your ….. ——– ???? are stretching the page and making it hard for iPhone users to read!
SffS
Rangers administration: Craig Whyte still has big say in future of club, warns finance expert
By STUART BATHGATE
Published on Tuesday 13 March 2012 04:27
CRAIG Whyte remains a significant obstacle to any takeover of Rangers and cannot simply be wished away, a leading football finance expert has warned.
Whyte, the largest shareholder in the Ibrox club, was written off as “absolutely irrelevant” to Rangers’ medium- or long-term future by Paul Clark of administrators Duff & Phelps. And would-be owner Paul Murray has talked of launching a share issue which would bring Rangers supporters on board.
But Neil Patey of Ernst & Young is convinced that Whyte will only become “irrelevant” if he agrees to do so. And he believes that any share issue of the kind proposed by Murray could only proceed with the consent of the present shareholders, Whyte included.
“Everybody, except Craig Whyte himself, appears to be assuming that when the club is sold, Whyte will no longer be a factor,” Patey said yesterday. “I can’t see why this should be the case.
“I’ve discussed this issue with several colleagues who work in the same field, and they are of the same opinion. If Whyte refuses to sell his shares and says ‘I still want to be involved with Rangers’, it’s not clear to me how the administrators or any possible new owners could deal with that.
“The administrators cannot sell a company’s shares. Craig Whyte still owns his shares. And any new share issue” – which could dilute Whyte’s holding – “has to be made with the agreement of the existing shareholders.”
In practical terms, it may be correct to say that Whyte has no future at Ibrox. He has not been sighted near the stadium since announcing he would stay away from the home match with Kilmarnock in order not to be a distraction, and the administrators have suggested he has no legal entitlement to the club or its fixed assets.
“I don’t see him as a secured creditor and I don’t see him as ongoing owner of Rangers,” Clark said at the weekend. “In terms of Rangers’ future medium to long term he is absolutely irrelevant.
“We’ve seen no evidence whatsoever of any investment by Craig Whyte into Rangers. We can’t see how he can have secured-creditor status. He has no rights, in my view, to Ibrox or Murray Park.”
But Whyte’s physical absence from Rangers, and his lack of secured-creditor status as suggested by Clark, do not alter his status as a shareholder. And that status could yet prove even more costly to the club if any players activate the “Whyte clause” which was inserted into some of the new contracts agreed last week. That clause was insisted upon by some of those players before they would agree to the massively reduced terms which were put to them by the new administrators. And, although it was intended as a statement of their opposition to Whyte, it could have a more tangible impact on any new owners.
“It’s not in everybody’s contract,” Clark explained. “But there are a number of players who did want a clause that said something like should Craig Whyte either retain or regain control of the club, then they would be entitled to a free transfer.”
“What the senior players are saying is that if this football club moves into the hands of somebody we trust, then we want to remain at Rangers. It should not be seen as the players taking an opportunity to get themselves away on a free transfer in the summer.”
Nonetheless, depending on the precise wording of that clause, Whyte’s remaining as the club’s biggest shareholder could give them that opportunity. And if even one of the most valuable players at the club took that opportunity, Rangers could lose out on several million pounds.
Meanwhile, Murray and his ‘Blue Knights’ group were proceeding yesterday with arrangements for a possible takeover of the club. Ticketus, the firm who forwarded £24.4million to Whyte in exchange for future season-ticket income, have agreed to form part of the consortium in a deal which could benefit themselves and a new-look Rangers.
Chairboy @ 09.15
Sincerely hope you are right, however, we live in a country where a football fan can run on to the pitch in full glare of the television cameras, smash in to our manager with the intent to do him harm, go to court and be found NOT GUILTY by a jury of his peers. We all know who ‘the authorities’ in this country are rooting for, and it certainly ain’t us.
This is an interesting situation.
What is indeed happening is that because Craig Whyte has been considered so toxic. Duff & Phelps are feeding the public the lie that Craig Whyte will not be involved in any future consortium.
He definitely will.
This idea that because you put none of your discernible wealth into a venture therefore it becomes irrelevant is a big fat LIE.
Craig Whyte took on the risk when Sir David Murray slapped Paul Murray down last year in April. So why should the way now be paved for Paul Murray ?
The Scottish media could buck the economy by spinning wool.
If Rangers have any future then Craig Whyte will be at the very heart of it unless he is bought out for millions.
Hail Hail
I am glad that the club have kept their distance from this unholy mess so far.
Cancelling the press conferences is another good move. Their questions are traps and our words are always twisted to give them headlines.
As Napoleon said “don’t interrupt the huns when they are getting themselves into a fankle”.
Che on 13 March, 2012 at 09:21 said:
Big Joe on 13 March, 2012 at 09:17
I think I seen Craig Whyte flipping burgers in McDonalds.
BigJoeontheLooooooooooooKout
It’s been a few days now since the Huns were found guilty on 4 charges of bringing the game into disrepute by the SFA.
Where’s the punishment ?
Seven Fishes Four Steaks on 13 March, 2012 at 09:29 said:
Big Joe, all your ….. ——– ???? are stretching the page and making it hard for iPhone users to read!
Sorry for that mate, but I canny help it………….
AnApolajeticBigJoe.
what does the msm and the mbb stand for?
Morning all!
Big Joe – i think Craigy is right under their noses!
[IMG]http://i44.tinypic.com/654iyu.jpg[/IMG]
HH
AoW
Rangers bidder Paul Murray may fail Scottish FA ‘fitness test’
Paul Murray has made public some of the details of his consortium’s proposed takeover of Rangers, but he will be unable to join the club’s new board.
Businessman Douglas Park and London-based pair Scott Murdoch, a property expert, and fund manager John Bennett are some of Murray’s Blue Knights.
But Murray’s former directorship at Ibrox prior to administration will fall foul of “fit and proper person” rules.
The Scottish Football Association board will block the Scot’s involvement.
Although Murray was ousted from the board by Craig Whyte shortly after he bought the club from Sir David Murray, the club’s insolvency nine months later and their alleged illegal activities while he was acting on the old Rangers board raises serious concerns over him ever playing an official role in any Scottish club.
The SFA’s rule 10.2(j) in their Articles of Association appear to exclude anyone who has been a “director of a club in membership of any national association within the five-year period preceding such club having undergone an insolvency event” and there is the expected two contract revelations to come out at some point in the possible future.
However, it is understood the SFA’s legal team are unsure whether the specific rule would be enforceable given Murray had already left before insolvency. Any individual also has the right of appeal.
Murray believes it is in Rangers’ best interests to work with Ticketus
Although the clause is clear, the rule states the board “reserves its discretion” as to whether a person is fit and proper after “due consideration of all relevant facts”.
And even if he were deemed unfit, Murray could still play an active role in takeover talks and any new ownership structure, although his ongoing influence might have to be unofficial if he succeeds. It is unlikely that the SFA will keep the unofficial channels of communication open to Rangers after the recent bad publicity.
Administrators Duff & Phelps want indicative bids showing “absolute proof of funding” to be registered with them by Friday. The firm says there are potential bidders from the Far East and America .
Murray has been the figurehead of a consortium which he revealed will include Ticketus, whose cash ultimately funded Craig Whyte’s takeover.
Ticketus seem confident that their contract to earn money from future season ticket sales, in exchange for £24.4m, is robust.
Murray believes it is in Rangers’ best interests to work with Ticketus rather than engage in a costly legal battle with them over their contract’s validity.
His preference is for that company to back the Blue Knights’ cash offer and provide working capital until they complete a fans’ share issue.
The ex-director told BBC Scotland around 10 individuals have expressed keen interest in investing with him, but the Rangers non-executive director Dave King will not be one of those, until his issues with the South African tax authorities have been resolved.
Lord William Nimmo Smith’s inquiry on behalf of the SFA last week deemed Rangers chairman Whyte “not fit and proper” to run a club and Rangers may face punishment for this for bringing the game into disrepute.
It was under Whyte’s chairmanship that the club failed to pay £9m in VAT and PAYE and it was this that brought about administration.
BBC Scotland since learned that the figure is closer to £15m.
Should King, who was on the Ibrox board when they went into administration, sort out his South African tax dispute, he too will be unable to continue in his role under the same SFA rule.
Some comfort for Murray is that, when Motherwell went into administration in 2002, the late Fir Park chairman Bill Dickie continued in his role for six years after the event but it should be stressed Motherwell were not considered to be involved in any illegal football activities.
The SFA’s definition of a club official includes “all office-bearers, secretary, directors or members of the board of management or committee”.
Sorry, try this –
http://i44.tinypic.com/654iyu.jpg
HH
Henriks Sombrero on 13 March, 2012 at 09:40 said
And still under investigation for the sectarian chanting against Kilmarnock
Still no tweets from Stewart Regan on this one?
I think the wool that they are all spinning is black.
Hail Hail
Awe Naw – good point. Even I had forgot about that one.
Art of War on 13 March, 2012 at 09:47 said:
Morning all!
Big Joe – i think Craigy is right under their noses!
[IMG]http://i44.tinypic.com/654iyu.jpg[/IMG]
I good yin……………………
but……………………….
what 1 is the white Night
???????????????????
BigJoebaskingin Daaaaaaaaaasun
C’mon the hoops.
BJ – try the next link!
HH
‘what does the msm and the mbb stand for?’
msm is main stream media mb????
KLV