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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mbb – motherwell born businessman
Future Rangers supremo PAUL Murray has confirmed the identity of several members of his Blue Knights consortium which plans to take over Rangers and move the club out of administration: businessmen John Bennett, Scott Murdoch and Douglas Park all of whom are multi millionaires.
But while the identity of his partners sheds new light on the development of the consortium, it is the link-up announced last week with Ticketus, the firm at the centre of a deal with Rangers’ biggest shareholder, Craig Whyte, that could carry the greatest significance.
Ticketus advanced Whyte £24million in exchange for the income from future season tickets. There is an argument about whether Rangers or Whyte himself are liable for that sum, with one body of opinion suggesting that the club may not owe the firm a penny.
Rather than go down that route of defying Ticketus, however, Murray has kindly opted to accept them on board as part of his business plan for the takeover and regeneration of Rangers. In so doing, he aims not only to avoid costly and potentially lengthy legal action, but also to secure a sizeable percentage of the funding he needs for his takeover to proceed successfully. Under Murray’s brilliant plan, Ticketus will play three different roles in the consortium.
First, it will provide some of the funding for the Blue Knights’ purchase of Rangers, but only a little. Less than 5% according to most financial experts. Second, it will ensure the new owners have more than enough cash to keep the business going and to sign some quality players until a new share issue can generate new funds. And third, the terms of its season-ticket deal will be revised, to become less onerous to Rangers. Paul Murray is a hard nosed businessman and will look to negotiate tickets down to just a 5% stake in season ticket sales.
Murray has not specified the sum he and his colleagues are willing to pay for Rangers, or the amount which will be forwarded by Ticketus. But the London-based company’s balance sheet will be a major asset in the bid. Similarly, administrators Duff & Phelps need to be convinced that any new owners will have enough money to fund Rangers as a going concern – and there, too, Ticketus have an obvious role to play. Those two aspects of Murray’s plan are clear-cut, but the third is more arguable. If, as has been suggested, Ticketus may be due nothing from Rangers, why make a deal that could see the firm profit by several million pounds? The answer, quite simply, is that Murray thinks Rangers will also be the beneficiaries thanks to the overall deal. In other words, without being assured of getting at least some of their money back, Ticketus would be a whole lot less willing to go ahead with the first two parts of Murray’s three-part plan. And without those first two parts, the plan would be a lot less likely to succeed.
Although they entered into the deal with Whyte in good faith, Ticketus have been tainted by association with the shareholder in the eyes of many Rangers supporters. Their involvement with Murray is a tangible sign of their goodwill towards the club, and should therefore repair at least some of that damage to their reputation.
For those supporters who remain extremely unhappy with Ticketus, the thought of not buying future season tickets could arise. But, according to football finance expert Neil Patey of Ernst & Young, such a course of action would only hurt the club.
“If the agreement between Ticketus and Whyte were found to be legally binding on Rangers, supporters would not be able to exert pressure on Ticketus by declining to buy season tickets,” Patey said yesterday. And the same thing would apply if and when Murray, on behalf of Rangers, concluded a deal with Ticketus which acknowledged liability. “Rangers would still owe Ticketus exactly the same amount, and would simply have been denied a source of revenue to help repay that debt. So there is no sneaky way out for Rangers supporters they will have to take the risk and pay for their season tickets”
Another advantage of that agreement between Murray and Ticketus, as Patey pointed out, is that as potential joint owners of Rangers they would not be creditors under the terms of a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA), the vehicle required to take a business out of administration.
“If Ticketus are owed money by Rangers. under a CVA they would waive their right to that money. If they were deemed to be creditors of Craig Whyte’s, they would have nothing to waive under a CVA.”
With Ticketus out of the way as far as a CVA was concerned, HMRC would emerge as the major creditors whose agreement was required. This would be the case no matter the outcome of the first-tier tax tribunal which could land Rangers with a bill for £49m, as even if that tribunal finds in the club’s favour, a bill for almost £15m arising from Whyte’s stewardship would remain to be dealt with.
“The administrators would have to do a deal with the Revenue first,” Patey added. “You cannot have that potential debt hanging over the club. The administrators would have to bring HMRC on board and ask ‘Do you sign up to the CVA or not?’ If and when they reached agreement, they would then say to Paul Murray what the structure of the CVA was.”
It would then be up to Murray and his colleagues to accept those terms or not. And with Ticketus on his side, he would be a lot more able to accept them.
It is expected that HMRC, Ticketus and Craig Whyte will be easily persuaded by Paul Murray astonishing vision for the new future of Rangers.
Above article was by Tom English
Hail Hail
Test from kindle,
baza, MBB is motherwell born billionnaire,
MSM is Main Stream Media,
Its confusing when ye don’t know, ive been there innaw!
V
lol.
or motherwell born bullshi@@@
KLV
Why are people so upset with Salmond talking about the offensive behaviour bill at Paul McBride’s funeral?
Regardless of what we think of it Mr McBride backed it all the way – to the point of resigning from his party over it.
I think we have to be exceptionally vigilant over how precedent develops but, given the high opinion of Mr McBride expressed here, maybe we should trust his legal judgement and worry a bit lesss.
Anyway we’ve got plenty of sticks to beat Salmond with we do not need to use that one.
Rangers defender Dorin Goian has turned down a big-money move to China despite seeing his wages cut at Ibrox, according to his agent.
Gers’ players recently accepted pay cuts of up to 75 per cent for the rest of the season to prevent mass redundancies at the financially-stricken club, who entered administration last month.
Romania international Goian was among them having arrived at Ibrox from Palermo last summer.
The 31-year-old’s brother, Lucian Goian, signed a lucrative deal at Chinese club Tianjin Teda in January.
But Goian’s agent, Florin Manea, claims the Rangers stopper has spurned a similar offer which would have seen his wages doubled.
Manea told the Daily Record: “Dorin received an offer from a club in China that would have doubled the wages he received at Rangers.
“They would have paid him £2.5million a year but he decided not to go because he likes it at Ibrox so much and wants to see the rest of his career out at Rangers or until he becomes a free agent”
msm = misinghim mbb mibebe
mainstream media motherwell born billionaire (thats now skint)
Awe awe
and isn’t there an ongoing investigation into the sectarian singing in the CL closed door game against inter Milan?
There are many investigations against the Hun that are quietly, through time seemingly disappeared or dare I say it awe naw’d.
V
Vmhan
That was an internal hun investigation that ended up in the double contract drawer
Why dont our tweeters twitter Regan and ask him ?
Or Phone Tardy Floorboard and ask him ?
Hail Hail
what do LMFAO, GTF, GIRFUY, JCGE and DOB stand for?
\o/
How much is Victor worth?
Outstanding against UTD.
HH
Gordon Mc Queen frets over the status of our national game but cant name the national manager. ??? Too many headed balls or is Gordon just another little Englander born in Scotland ?
Hail Hail
ta guys
Albert_Kidd
http://www.gaarde.org/acronyms/
Hail Hail
Awe Naw
I just skimmed that Tom English offering. No reference to the lengths the Blue Knights will go to to make sure Rangers pay back the millions they owe?
Or did you Awe Naw those references out, because, I mean, surely a club with the queen’s picture in the home dressing room will want to make good its debts to her?
Henriks Sombrero on 13 March, 2012 at 09:40 said:
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.
In addidion to what Awe Naw said, I can see it being in the authorities’ interest to let all this season’s fixtures to be played before they take any visible action.
Vmhan Supporting Lenny! on 13 March, 2012 at 10:07 said:
Can’t wait until Quincy MD starts to investigate them.
Dooo doo doo doooo doo doooooo
quickdraw,
Many of us simply thought that using someone’s death to make a political point was low. There are any number of things that Salmond could have said about Paul McBride, but as always he was more interested n his own agenda than praising anyone else.
This is brilliant. The Peepil are writing to Uefa to ask them to investigate the SFA. They really don’t get it do they ?
barrhillbear
The land of the Covenanters Join Date: 01-09-2006
Location: Deepest South Ayrshire
Posts: 750
Regan has to resign
——————————————————————————–
After breaking their own rules on allowing CW to buy Rangers abd then 10 months later they said he was not a fit and proper person to do so.
I am writing to UEFA today to ask them to investigate the SFA as I think they are corrupt
ALL the SFA board have to go as well bur Regan first and right now
Moon Bhoys @ 09:34,
Apologies for the delay in getting back……
You undoubtedly have a point, they have regularly been treated in a partial way, however that’s why they have gotten slack.
They will certainly be looked on favourably but remember where they are now.
In Administration, ten points deducted, the players wage budget slashed and no European Football – could you have imagined that six months ago, it’s just the start.
If the authorities are smart then they would dock them enough points before this seasons split to ensure they were relegated, they can’t win anything this year and this could ensure SFL DIV 1 and the ability to live within their means, maybe pheonix and get promotion even with another 10 point penalty.
They may look back and think I’d have settled for that, but chronic hubris isn’t so easily cured.
Hail Hail
Celtic_First
all Tom British´s work
I take no credit whatsoever
Hail Hail
And this is on the same thread…..hunbelievable.
LtPidgeon
It’s a bit nipply outside… Join Date: 06-01-2010
Posts: 1,416
Re: Regan has to resign
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Remember to put some nails and bits of wire in the envelope. That’ll get their attention
Perhaps the Blue Knights could offer HMRC the same deal as Ticketus and make them partners in the new club? Govan United sponsored by Hector has a nice ring to it.
and eyepox renamed as ‘hectors house’
As people were saying last night, it hasn’t taken Alex Thomson of Channel 4 News very long to see that something may well be not quite right with how the SFA have handled this, but it’s not in the way BarrhillBear seems to think.
Moreover, I just have a hunch that Mr Thomson will not be satisfied with a glib smart-tweet answer from the SFA’s chief executive.
Not sure what to make of English’s article above, will wait for the likes of RTC to comment.
However, any businessmen coming into this mess need their heads looked at.
The multiple multi-millionaires (who are obviously richer than billionaires!!!) must be prepared for long drawn out wrangles in the courts.
Can’t see how they will be saved, unless some Alexander the Great character appear from the heavens to cut the Gordian Knot.
THe SFA cannot stop ANYBODY buying any Scottish football club.
All they can do is ensure they are not on that clubs board!
Watson calm over medal fears
Former Rangers assistant manager Andy Watson cannot imagine being stripped of the title medals he won with the Ibrox side.
Rangers are under investigation from the Scottish Premier League over the alleged non-disclosure of payments to players from the league’s inception in 1998.
The probe was launched in the wake of comments from former director Hugh Adam, who claimed payments to Employee Benefit Trusts, which were the subject of a tax tribunal, were not listed on contracts registered with football authorities.
Watson won SPL titles in 2003 and 2005 alongside Alex McLeish and would find it difficult to accept if the ultimate sanctions were implemented should Rangers be found guilty.
Watson said: “I don’t know if these things can be stripped. We’ve all got a degree in retrospect.
“The things were won under the terms and conditions put before you there and then.
“Whether things can be stripped I don’t know, on what basis I wouldn’t know, but I would find it hard to imagine. That´s not to say that it wont it is more of a prescient description of the state of my mental inertia ”
Watson witnessed cutbacks in his time at Rangers from 2001 to 2006 after the big-spending highs of the Dick Advocaat years, but could not foresee the depths to which the club have sunk in administration.
“I’m not sure if anybody could have foreseen where they are at the minute,” he said.
“It’s an amazing institution and there’s absolutely no doubt, you look at the fan base and everything that’s there.
“And I just saw the players have taken a 75% wage cut to try to help the situation, not only for themselves.
“There’s a lot of staff that work within Rangers and they’ve been there for a long, long time. It’s for those kind of people that you feel for. The ones cloaked in the tradition and unable to think for themselves. They will find it difficult on the outside in the real world
“Could we see it coming? I’m sure nobody saw it coming. Not the tax man, not Craig Whyte not David Grier, Sir David Murray, Dave Ellis, lloyds bank – no one ”
Watson hailed the players for giving up up to 75% of their wages in order to prevent redundancies and keep the going.
“Players get a lot of bad press at times right throughout the country and I think what they’ve done there is incredible,” he said.
“The players have taken a lead and shown they’re committed towards the cause and that’s all you can ask. If you see them pulling, everyone else has got to pull as well its contagious.”
Henriks Sombrero ………………………………
Not sure if your post at 13 March, 2012 at 10:25
Is the funniest thing I have ever read
Just an opinion like……………..
BigJoeNOTstartingAfight
Celtic_First
Two pictures of the queen and nout else but a tactics board.
Gordon J @10.17 Fair point. I just thought that if I died tomorrow I’d love it and I’m sure my family would appreciate it if someone as high profile used the occasion to highlight an issue I felt stromgly about. Looking down (or up perhaps) it’d be outstanding to see Salmond standing outside my church calling for a full public inquiry into Rangers and the governance of the game for the last 25 years.
If I do meet an untimely end please do not have any qualms about using it as an excuse to get tore right into Rangers and the SFA.
The bears aren’t the brightest bunch. Regan has already let it be known that rangers football club endorsed Craig Whyte as a fit and proper person.
Perhaps they should start looking closer to home for a scape goat. There’s bound to be a few in the ibrox temple.
oh the dignity of it all……
GEODGC
Gold Star Poster Join Date: 31-07-2006
Posts: 4,316
Rangers WAGS offer to strip to raise money for the club.
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Front page of todays Daily Star. I’ve not read the entire article but the jist of it is that Leah Shevlin and others WAGS have offered to strip off and pose for a calender to raise cash for the club.
eh mr watson, the terms and conditions include proper registration of players. if u don’t understand i’m sure fc sion can explain.
Hamiltontim,
Erm I don’t think they have a tacTICs board, too timmy sounding methinks.
V
Albert_Kidd on 13 March, 2012 at 10:11 said:
what do LMFAO, GTF, GIRFUY, JCGE and DOB stand for?
———-
…..and what does “outwith” mean?
Just listened to download of Keevins from last night. He was emphatic in his defence of his own newspaper and his colleagues.
This is in contrast to his Pontius Pilate act when he distances himself from derogatory / inaccurate headlines by saying that is not us that is sub editors.
Just another reason to look forward to his retirement announcement.
There is a poll on Hun Media: would you buy an orange away strip?
92% said YES!
They are gazing into an abyss and this is a topic of discussion!
The moronic mass of the hun horde…will they ever learn?
PS
Can evolution go in reverse?