Huge result from the SFA Judicial Panel Tribunal tonight, absolutely enormous, perhaps the biggest decision ever made in Scottish football history. Rangers have been banned from signing players over 18-years-old, for a period of 12 months and fined £160k.
For months Scottish football has lived under some huge moral questions; would the combined forces of TV contracts, the Bank of Scotland and the formidable Rangers lobby combine to subvert the meritocratic spirit of sport and see rules written to see Rangers kept afloat.
The SFA Judicial Panel Tribunal made these questions moot. In the event that Rangers fail to agree a CVA with creditors and emerge as a Newco, and IF that Newco is allowed to inherit the SPL share given up by Rangers, the Newco will be unable to sign any players of 18 years or older.
Although the SPL and SFA are able to transfer Rangers league share to a Newco, player employment contracts are with the current company, so players would not be contracted to any new company. An SPL Newco would need to compete with 16 and 17-year-olds.
Conversely, there is nothing to stop a new football club, Rangers United, for example, sharing Firhill and applying to the Scottish Football League, from signing players of any age. A new football club like this would inherit no financial or football punishment from Rangers FC. Anyone aspiring to fill the gap left by Rangers would do well to navigate their plans in this direction.
In fact, scrub that first sentence, this is the biggest decision ever made in Scottish football history, no perhaps about it.
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Has anyone heard when they face the charges for the sectarian singing at the Kilmarnock game?
Has this been ignored by the SFA / SPL ?
We should have Airdrie Utd as a feeder club, Send our kids there to play every week to gain experience. Not only that any we can have any players not in the 1st team squad playing aswel.
Morning,
I see the bares are organising a boycott.
Luckily for them Uefa will be implementing one on their behalf for ALL games for the next 3 years.
Stupid huns…
My fancy new Sony clock alarm jumped an hour forward last night and has thrown my morning into confusion.
Another Amazon return!
One of the suggestions on R-media last night was, rather than boycotting Scotland games, ‘go everywhere’ and behave so atrociously that the SFA is forever getting fined and banned.
The thread seemed to disappear…..
….Don’t know how that would work if they got to the SPL though.
Andrew
I was saddened to read of Tony’s passing, and will keep you and the family in my thoughts today.
TBB
Morning,
I see the bares are trying to organise a boycott.
Luckily for them Uefa will be implementing one on their behalf of ALL games for the next 3 years.
Stupid huns…
Imagine if after all that CW has done since taking over ragers if there was evidence found to link him with a previous owner .
Now wouldn’t that just be the cherry on the ice cream .
Not saying there is but what if
hail hail
A Panel Tribunal convened to
hear the cases against Rangers FC and
Craig Whyte today concluded their
findings and set out the following
outcomes:
Name: Craig Whyte, Director, Rangers FC
Dates: 6th May 2011 to 6th March 2012
Disciplinary Rule(s) allegedly breached:
Rules 66, 71 and 105
Outcomes:
The Tribunal found Craig Whyte guilty under
Rule 66 and fined him £50,000.
The Tribunal returned a Not Proven verdict
in respect of Rule 71.
The Tribunal found Craig Whyte guilty on
three separate counts under Rule 105 and
fined him £50,000 in respect of each breach.
The above sanctions shall be paid within 30
days, with interest of 4% per annum over
the base lending rate of Bank of Scotland plc
from the date of determination until paid.
Under Articles 94.1 and 95, the Tribunal
expelled Craig Whyte for life from any
participation in Association Football in
Scotland.
Name: Rangers FC
Dates: 6th May 2011 to 6th March 2012
Disciplinary Rule(s) allegedly breached:
Rules 1, 2, 14, 66, 71 and 325
Outcomes:
The Tribunal returned a verdict of Not
Proven in respect of Rule 1.
The Tribunal found Rangers FC guilty in
respect of Rule 2 and imposed the
maximum fine of £10,000 payable within 12
months.
The Tribunal found Rangers FC guilty in
respect of Rule 14 and imposed the
maximum fine of £50,000 payable within 12
months
The Tribunal found Rangers FC guilty in
respect of Rule 66 and imposed the
maximum fine of £100,000 payable within
12 months. In addition, the Tribunal
imposed a prohibition in terms of Article
94.1 and 95 of the Articles of Association,
prohibiting Rangers FC for a period of 12
months from the date of determination from
seeking registration with the Scottish FA of
any player not currently with the club,
excluding any player under the age of 18
years.
The Tribunal found Rangers FC guilty in
respect of Rule 71 and imposed a censure.
The Tribunal found Rangers FC guilty of two
breaches in respect of Rule 325 and
imposed further censure.
.Explanatory Notes:
Rule 1 (b) : All members shall:
(b) be subject to and comply with the
Articles and any statutes, regulations,
directives, codes, decisions and
International Match Calendar promulgated
by the Board, the Professional Game Board,
the Non Professional Game Board, the
Judicial Panel, a Committee or sub-
committee, FIFA, UEFA or the Court of
Arbitration for Sport;
Rule 2: Each member shall procure that its
officials, its Team Staff and its players act in
accordance with Rule 1.
Rule 14 (g): Full membership or associate
membership may be suspended or
terminated, or a fine may be issued, in any
of the following circumstances:-
(g) where a full member or an associate
member suffers or is subject to an
insolvency event.
Rule 66: No recognised football body, club,
official, Team Official or other member of
Team Staff, player, referee, or other person
under the jurisdiction of the Scottish FA shall
bring the game into disrepute.
Rule 71: A recognised football body, club,
official, Team Official, other member of
Team Staff, player or other person under the
jurisdiction of the Scottish FA shall, at all
times, act in the best interests of
Association Football and shall not act in any
manner which is improper.
Rule 105: Any Party who is subject to a
Direction from a Tribunal must follow that
Direction as so Directed by the Tribunal. Any
Party who fails to do so, may be found to be
in breach of this rule.
Rule 325: Failing to pay to [Dundee United
FC] on the day of the match monies due
under Rule 46 c (3) and e of the Scottish FA
Cup Competition Rules; being [Dundee
United’s] share of receipts for the match;
and by failing to pay to the Scottish FA
within three days monies due under Rule 46
c (1) of the Scottish FA’s Cup Competition
Rules; being the Scottish FA’s levy on
admission charges for the above match.
Article 94.1: The Judicial Panel shall have
the power to fine, suspend, or expel or in
relevant cases to eject from the Challenge
Cup Competition or apply such other
sanction as is provided for in the Judicial
Panel Protocol any recognised football
body, club, official, Team Official or other
member of Team Staff, player, referee or
other person under the jurisdiction of the
Scottish FA who, in its opinion, in any way
brings the game in to disrepute or is likely
to bring the game into disrepute or on any
other grounds it considers sufficient and of
which, subject to the rights of appeal, it
shall be the sole judge.
Article 95: The Judicial Panel shall have
jurisdiction subject to the terms of the
Judicial Panel Protocol to deal with any
alleged infringement of any provision of
these Articles. A recognised football body,
club, official, Team Official or other member
of Team Staff, player, referee or other
person under the jurisdiction of the Scottish
FA if found to have infringed the Articles
shall be liable to censure or to a fine or to a
suspension or to an expulsion or to ejection
from the Challenge Cup competition, to any
combination of these penalties, or such
other penalty, condition or sanction as the
Judicial Panel considers appropriate,
including such other sanctions as are
contained within the Judicial Panel Protocol
in order to deal justly with the case in
question.
GOOD morning!!!!!
These charges relate to the last 12 months right? Whyte’s misdemeanours only yes?
Precedent set in that case.
nyone who was administering an illegal EBT scheme for 11 or 12 years before that will be getting a similar punishment one would think?
There really will be no rangers minded people left to spread their influence over the SFA and SPL. Perhaps this is a stroke of genius by the SFA to rid themselves of the overwhelming influence of rangers.
Or perhaps they just want to keep blaming Our Hero for absolutely everything??
Either way, Ha ha.
And I am off to work with a spring in my step.
Who is our big derby game against next season?
If they don’t pay this fine can they/ will they be expelled from the Association?
Has anyone heard when they face the charges for the sectarian singing at the Kilmarnock game?
Has this been conveniently ignored by the SFA / SPL ?
guy on RTC saying that CW had dinner with SR and CO in November and was assured that these issues would not be a problem and now they are just reacting to media coverage .
Can anyone confirm this ,my link is playing up but the post is from Geoff 24/4/12 at 7 25am .
Looks like a quote from CW
Craig Whyte gives everyone a sneak preview of his new stand up routine…
“Tell me how it is
going to affect me?
“I couldn’t care less. It makes no difference
to my life whatsoever – and good luck
collecting the money. It’s a joke.
“It is very harsh on Rangers. I am surprised
at how harsh the SFA have been on a club
which is going through tough times at the
moment.
“Stewart Regan (chief executive) and
Campbell Ogilvie (president) should resign
and get out of Scottish football. The SFA
want to kick Rangers when they are down
and I hope people remember that. They are
playing to the media.”
Fergus,
It is a direct quote from CW.
I hear that DR sports department are putting the word SWOOP in a time capsule this morning.
Vmhan supporting Lenny and his Lions on 24 April, 2012 at 05:09:
Your welcome Amigo, off to work with a spring in our step…
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Good morning one and all
I have just been woken by a phone call from my pal explaining some of the details from last night!!! WOW!!! thought i was dreaming at first!
ould this be the small chink of morality and the rules being applied for cheating that i mentioned last week????
Tiny Tim:
My condolences and my thoughts and prayers with you and the family.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Thecat gets better and better.
Laugherty away for nowt after falling out with McCoist.
rangers say lack of discipline, player saying rangers have cancelled his hernia operation Twice!
Hoopy Days…
Tiny Tim
Thoughts and prayers, take care.
Reading through the mass hysteria on FF.
Do they honestly think that they should be let of with everything that has happened scot-free?
Always someone else’s fault, never their own doing!!
Tiny Tim
Only reading back now, Thoughts and prayers with you and your family.
I am myself in Dublin en route to the funeral of my Aunt and only came on to cqn after my pal rang me with last nights news, as a cheer up!
I hope you will see some light and find strength in your family and friends
Keep the Faith
Lennybhoy , have you lost my moby ? Didn’t get a text from you last night. Are you feeling ok ?
Sanna (on a bright , sunny , G69 morning)
Comrades today I have an admission to make for which I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me,
I bought a daily record, for all the pain grief and feeling of letting everyone down I can only say in mitigation that when I went into the shop this am for milk the temptation was all too much there it was in front of me like some semi clad temptress, On the brink of OBLIVION…now I thought thats either the new Harry Potter film or something has happened at oul tesco fc…and there it was the name of the writer for all to see…James Traynor….Mmm I thought he must be in trouble if hes writing new film reviews, well mr traynors piece is up there with anything he has written before, its everybodys fault except, well rangers, our hero, “other” boardrooms for celebrating the demise with glee, the sfa ahhh bless, james my little overweight underaccomplishiong excuse for a journalist, IF during the 18 months of due diligence that your master had undertaken was in fact done properly our heros background would have been made visible, in fact his background was made vuisible to you by the internet bampots here in cyberspace, you chose not to listen, IF they are celebrating in boardrooms then name them James, who is it? casting aspertions helps no one, but hey whats new here, blame the SFA? James the decisionwas taken by an independent panel as part of last years review, where amongst others YOU asked for transparency, you asked for independent decisions, you James are therefore as culpable as the SFA…arent you? You finish by saying the rangers fans will never forgive the SFA for this decision, James there is nothing to forgive, the rules were there to be followed, they werent, the SFA rules were there to be impelmented, they were, its a hard old life James, good luck with getting the tear stains off your keyboard.
TinyTim sorry for your loss, insidious desease cancer.
The story that keeps on giving, keeps on giving! Maybe tonight in Berlin will be jelly and ice cream night! I wonder if they sell that in the Oscar Wilde?
Barcelona need to step up tonight, cannae have the London Huns in the Champions League Final.
Visca el Barca!
RobinBhoy
Traynor’s Article
THE SFA smashed Rangers with a hammer blow last night by banning the club from signing any new players for ONE YEAR.
And it was feared that the severe sanctions – and a £160,000 fine – could be the final nails in the coffin for the Ibrox club.
In a dramatic late-night bombshell, shamed owner Craig Whyte was also hit with a £200,000 fine and banned from working with any Scots club FOR LIFE.
The swingeing punishments for breaching SFA rules came just hours after financial experts warned fans their club were only days away from liquidation.
Last night, fears were growing that the new penalties could finally scare off the remaining two bidders for the club.
The sanctions made a mockery of outrageous demands made by Whyte just hours earlier.
He had insisted he keep a 20 per cent stake in the club, be given two directors’ box seats for life and could appoint two people to the new board.
But last night he hit back: “I couldn’t care less. It makes no difference to my life whatsoever – and good luck collecting the money.
“It’s a joke. It is very harsh on Rangers. I am surprised at how harsh the SFA have been on a club which is going through tough times.
“Stewart Regan (chief executive) and Campbell Ogilvie (president) should resign and get out of Scottish
football.
“The SFA want to kick Rangers when they are down. They are playing to the media.”
Yesterday, administrators Duff & Phelps, who have been running the Scottish Premier League club since February 14, believed they were close to sealing a survival deal with one of the club’s potential bidders.
But a statement last night from administrator Paul Clark said: “All of us working on behalf of the club are utterly shocked and dismayed by the draconian sanctions imposed on Rangers.
“It appears that, on one hand, the disciplinary panel accepted our central argument that responsibility for bringing the club into disrepute lay with the actions of one individual – Craig Whyte – as is evident from the unprecedented punishment meted out to him.
“During this hearing, the club produced compelling evidence from a number of sources that, following his takeover, Craig Whyte ran the club in a thoroughly unaccountable manner, rather than adhering to a long-established and proper form of corporate governance.
“Given this evidence, it is difficult to comprehend that the disciplinary panel has seen fit to effectively punish the club even more heavily than Mr Whyte.
“Any further punishment on him will have little or no impact.
“However, for Rangers, a ban on signing players will seriously undermine the club’s efforts to rebuild after being rendered insolvent.
“Furthermore, we do not know how bidders for the club will react to these sanctions and what effect they will have on their proposals.”
Clark said the club intended to appeal against the sanctions.
The remaining two bidders for the club – Paul Murray and his Blue Knights consortium and American Bill Miller – were shocked at the sanctions.
If they walk away from the negotiating table, liquidation would become inevitable. Rangers’ fans will be incensed that the game’s governing body have decided to make the club pay for Whyte’s chicanery.
He refused to attend the SFA independent inquiry, chaired by Lord William Nimmo Smith, into his and the club’s business activities, claiming the process was “farcical”.
The most damaging penalty for Rangers is the ban on signing new players.
The club are likely to lose a raft of players, who in return for accepting swingeing wage cuts to keep the club going had clauses inserted into their contracts allowing them to leave on the cheap at the end of the season.
The sanctions mean manager Ally McCoist won’t be able to replace any of the players.
Rangers faced five offences, including failing to abide by SFA regulations over the “fit and proper” person’s test.
Whyte was ruled unfit by the SFA to be a club official.
Last night, SFA chief executive Stewart Regan told the Record that the governing body had no control or influence over the hearing’s process or verdict.
He said: “This was an independent process and there was no indication from the panel until their decision was made last night.”
Regan added that a special body will be set up to hear Rangers’ appeal.
The club are bracing themselves for further, possibly severe sanctions when the SPL meet next Monday.
The hammer blow came after a financial expert warned that Rangers had just two days left to save their future. Top accountant Neil Patey said that time to set up the preferred option to keep the club solvent – a Company Voluntary Agreement – is fast running out.
Any CVA requires at least five weeks to run its course.
But if Rangers’ ownership and a creditors’ deal are not resolved by June 1, the club will once again be facing losses of up to £1million a month when the deal by players to accept a temporary 75 per cent pay cut runs out.
Add to that the administrators’ fees – which by yesterday had reached more than £1.6million – and the financial picture grows ever bleaker.
Patey, of Ernst and Young, said failure to strike a deal by Thursday could lead to:
●“Non-liquidation” buyers walking away because of the extra debts.
● Top stars being axed if they insist on wages being hiked back to previous levels.
● Four months of further administration.
● Millions more in fees to administrators.
Patey also warned of the difficulty Whyte could pose if he decides not to hand over his shareholding without a fight.
Patey warned: “I think it’s days and not weeks, as the June 1 deadline is quite important.
“The club will then be in the close season and there will be little income coming in. And, importantly, the players’ wages, which were at a reduced level, will defer back to full wages.
“That takes them back close to the £10million per annum operating loss that was stated when they went into administration.
Rangers fans’ spokesman John Macmillan said most fans were frustrated at the way the sale was being drawn out.
He said: “If the red tape means that June will bring further debt issues then I suggest that everyone involved gets the finger out.”
Wow… stunning news affecting Mordor today…
Now our board of directors has a massive decision to make. We are guaranteed entry to the Champions League for the forseeable future (qualifiers at least).
Given the reduced income we will see from the SPL over that same period, the income derived from the Champions League becomes vital. But if we are to compete, the board need to spend some serious money.
Have they got the cojones to speculate to accumulate?
good news, very good news. I have one slight niggling worry that they will appeal this and a compromise along the lines of the transfer ban only stands as long as Mr Whyte is connected to the club or similar wording will be agreed. I doubt it now but this is a country where a man can be assaulted live on tv, with tens of thousands of witnesses including police officers in the immediate vicinity and a jury can find the case not proven.
To get back to the positives though I assume it is only a matter of time till their ill gotten trophies are passed onto the worthy runners up. It is grand to be champions 12 in a row. HH.
Is this the final nail in their coffin?
Oh, a lovely morning here in North Ayrshire. Well, it couldn’t be anything else, could it?
Tiny Tim
my condolences, just read back.
On Friday Bill Miller announces that he plans to buy Rangers, on condition that the SFA do not inflict any further sanctions on the club.
On the following Monday, the SFA respond by banning Rangers from signing players for a year and fine them 160k.
Oh my aching sides.
Rangers last night sensationally swooped for Lionel messis kid brother Wayne.
Ally McCoist has been locked in talks with Messi juniors agent, Mrs Messi since news broke of the 12 month transfer embargo thrown down from the beaks.
Mrs Messi said Wayne would be glad to join a team with such dignity and to be in the homeland of her two heros Wayne Sleep and Lionel Blair. One stumbling block could be the Rangers support but Ally McCoist said last night they would soon walk away.
So what will today bring in the funniest soap opera of all time?
FTT announcement?
Another day, another side splitter.
Mark Dingwall from the RST says “The SFA are biased & unfit for purpose”
Mark have you been asleep for the duration of your life you complete idiot. Next you will be saying the refs are against you.
Spiers:( 5Live) ‘Gullible media,…Murray duped… Craig Whyte, if he knows what his quality of life is worth, will stay clear of the West of Scotland’
Campbell: ‘Good Grief!’
Lots of pain on the radio today!!
Alan Green on now, listen to the pain!!!
‘Not in the interest of the game in Scotland to put further difficulties in the way of one of their two main clubs’
Alan’s mask is slipping!
Does Agent Whyte’s lifetime ban now mean he can’t officially get the Honorary position on our Board ?
Surely that was the carrot dangled for him before he undertook such a high risk operation deep behind Orc lines.
Our Hero really has taken one for the team.