Your fathers, their fathers, and their fathers before them, have walked away from football grounds thinking the game in Scotland was skewed in favour of another team. As a club founded by immigrants, with our historical support drawn largely from some of the poorest sections of society, for decades Celtic-friendly people were underrepresented in the professional classes, the very classes those who administered and refereed our game were, and still are, drawn from.
No one believes more than me that times have changed. That immigrant community gained equal access to all professions years ago – yes, including referees. The prejudices which, perhaps not surprisingly, developed in Scotland when an incessant flood of around 800,000 immigrants poured into the country over a few short decades, have moved on. Our society is not without prejudice, but it’s others who are now targeted most.
Football decisions made by referees are difficult to prove to be deliberately unfair. I have no doubt that Celtic suffered unfairly in this regard for decades, but I see little evidence of it now, and even if there was, it is impossible to tell the difference between incompetence and bias.
Conclusive evidence of what we were up against was established in 1999 when an independent SFA Commission heard a complaint from Celtic that Jim Farry, the Association’s chief executive, deliberately delayed the registration of Jorge Cadete, meaning the player was unable to play for Celtic in a cup game against Rangers. The Commission upheld Celtic’s complaint and Farry was sacked for gross misconduct – even back then holding a torch for due process.
That incident came at the end of a difficult period to be a Celtic fan. Rangers had violated one of our cherished records, Nine-in-a-row, was matched, not by wonderful athletic achievement, as Celtic did, but by the might of the cheque book. Fergus built a stadium, left us a little over £2m in debt and taught the SFA a valuable lesson. In short, he put Celtic on a level playing field with everyone else in the country.
In August 2000 an almighty game of football reset all the dials. Celtic scored six against then champions Rangers. We won the league by 21 points, won the Scottish and League cups, our first treble in 32 years. On and off the park, we were better than a team who only a few years earlier seemed light-years ahead of a sorry looking Celtic.
Rangers responded by flooding more cash into their football squad, this time using Employee Benefit Trusts. In February last year Celtic Quick News was first to raise the question that these EBT payment might not have been registered with the SFA and SPL. Within three weeks the SPL commenced an investigation into the question, which found Rangers had a case to answer. The league set up the Commission which will report at noon today.
This is the most important decision in Scottish football history with implications for past and current directors of the organisations which run our game; people who were legally obliged to ensure rules were applied fairly, thoroughly and evenly.
It has implications for the Rangers group of clubs and for the international reputation of Scottish football, but none of this matters to you and me. We want to know if we were watching a level playing field for 11 years, or if the game was rigged. I can’t think of a more important decision in the history of British sport. There has never been and will never again be a decision which casts a shadow on 14 trophies, ‘won’ allegedly by a team playing by different rules to the rest.
The First Tier Tribunal decision last year and forthcoming Upper Tier Tribunal are sideshows. This is the main event, second only to Lisbon in importance to Scottish football. I am confident the decision will go against the group of clubs. If it doesn’t, we should not demean ourselves by slipping into paranoia. This is an independent commission, anyone who tells you otherwise is deluded.
My only concern is that the scale of punishments which would be appropriate for a guilty verdict are, frankly, so enormous, I expect every available opportunity to mitigate the sanctions to be exploited. This is a black cap verdict, but despite their impartiality, I don’t expect the Commission to dress sombrely when signing the decision.
A bottle of expensive fizzy stuff is in the fridge, in case we need to toast all those generations who, unlike us today, never had the opportunity to nail the truth.
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Scottish football is in dire need of renewal from top to bottom. It needs a John Wayne figure to come in, shoot all the nose-in-the-trough nonentities in the bahookey, kick them out of town and start rebuilding from scratch.
I knew they’d be found guilty. I predicted that verdict up and down.
I know what the rules say. I fully expected them to be followed.
A guilty verdict with no punishment is a travesty, and the wording, that it’s a decade long “administrative error” with no effect on the sporting integrity is a whitewash of Widgery proportions. Our club should take a lead and give notice to resign.
They won’t, and that makes Celtic complicit. The club wants your money. I said I wasn’t going to get into a rant over the transfer window this year, but sod it, I might as well now. The clear disconnect between the ambitions of our board and those of the fans has already been spelled out to us this season already when they made no effort at all to strengthen the team before the Juventus games.
Anyone who expects leadership now is howling at the moon. Even here, my old man is telling me the verdict changes nothing, as we all knew this anyway … oh so what, the fact we know something is corrupt, and always have, means we just go along with it?
I’m done. It’s for every person to make his or her own decision, and I respect those decisions, even if I find the reasoning behind them baffling.
Football is a commercial enterprise now. It’s no longer what it was. The complete lack of application from our players last night was scandalous, but they’re drawing their wages, so why bother? Our club is going through the motions, bucking every trend in business today … posting a stronger balance sheet, when the game is in the worst state it’s been in for 30 years.
The time to act decisively came and went when our “national administrators” were allowed to remain in post in the aftermath of their disgraceful attempts to help NewCo back into the SPL. That was the time to act, to clean out the detritus and filth, to change the game … and all of those people still have their jobs.
Scottish football is run by one club, for the benefit of one club, and that club is not ours. We are the only superpower in the game, but we’re an economic superpower only. We do not have the influence our size should dictate and we either do not have the will to be anything different or we are too cowed to use it.
Either way, I expect no firm leadership from Celtic or anyone else.
Today we’ve been shown irrefutable proof that the game in Scotland is rigged, and has been rigged for many years. Today we’ve been told to like it or lump it.
Easy choice to make for me. No more of this.
BOHICA
Bend Over Here It Comes Again
Shaft http://youtu.be/cEaRCAcfOEQ
John O Neil
12:55 on
28 February, 2013
Support our club or else the cheats prosper even more. Boycott ALL SFA games. Please.
————-
I have since I was 7 when i asked to go to a Scotland game,
“nah son thats a gathering of Masons Just you stick to celtic”.
HEWASRIGHTcsc
Nimmo Smith, the esteemed judge:
‘There was no evidence before us as to whether any other members of the SPL used similar EBT schemes, or the effect of their doing so. Moreover, we have received no evidence from which we could possibly say that Oldco could not or would not have entered into the EBT arrangements with players if it had been required to comply with the requirement to disclose the arrangements as part of the players’ full financial entitlement or as giving rise to payment to players’.
Report of Vicky Pryce trial:
“5. Can a juror come to a verdict based on a reason that was not presented in court and has no facts or evidence to support it either from the prosecution or defence?
“The answer to that question is firmly no,” said the judge. “That is because it would be completely contrary to the directions I have given you for anyone to return a verdict except a true verdict according to the evidence.”
timbhoy2
12:50 on
28 February, 2013
Why don’t you just crawl back under your rock, and gie us awe peace…
Its safe to say that CFC would have been pummelled on all counts by now if it was us, with the msm leading off the lynch mob.
On a slightly different note.
One of the boom sectors of the UK economy is the provision of arbitration services to resolve overseas disputes. Some of this work spills into Scotland. The Rangers fiasco damages more than just Scottish football.
For me this marks the end.
If a team can blatantly cheat their way to 5 titles by fiddling the system, and the team I supported all my life are mocked, ridiculed and humiliated for trying to compete honestly, then that’s it.
For Christs’s sake. A £250k fine. Celtic were fined a similar amount for tapping up Tommy Burns.
And before you say it, yes I know Celtic have done nothing wrong, but I won’t spend money or waste my time going to watch a competition where cheating has been proven and gone unpunished.
Forget it. I’m done. Supporting Celtic is something I’ll now do from a distance.
Goodbye, CQN. It’s been a blast.
I thought the idea was that newclub had to accept the sanctions on oldclub. What happened there? Another lie?
” This is a Court of Law young man not a Court of Justice “..
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Cheating in Scottish football is allowed because Scottish football allows cheating . Please ensure that you complete the paperwork in the prescribed manner.
Lord Nimmo Smith 28 2 2013
Having skimmed the report it seems to me the whole thing hinges on the fact that the LNS commission interpreted the SPL Rule D1.11 on registration as meaning that an SPL player was properly registered until such point as he was found out to be improperly registered at which point the registration could be revoked – however since there was no scope in the SPL rules for doing this retrospectively the players were eligible!
VertWolf
I feel like the wee undertaker at the start of THE GODFATHER who stupidly put his faith in justice.
Where is our DON CORLEONE?
Good Afternoon everyone from the Red Sea Coast,
Some days I feel homesick, today I just feel sick and glad to be here!
Stay strong and God bless the Celtic family,
sTICks
Just a thought about this abomination of a punishment.
Decision taken for the safety of LNS and those in his independent commission. End of story. The ORC letter bombers have got to them.
Is this Afghanistan we play football in?
Paul67 is takin’ his time.
If you read the ruling you’ll see how they came up with the decision and what it points to is a poorly written set of regulations.
Essentially if a player is correctly registered in the first instance. His registration remains despite any later breaches of the rules that might normally make his registration invalid. or in plainer language.
Let’s say Artur Numan is signed on a contract at £20k/week all in the paper work etc. His registration is submitted all valid and correct. He’s now registered.
He’s later offered a payrise of £5k/week and it’s paid via the EBT with a side letter.
At the same time Claudio Reyna is signed also on £25k week but this time from outset it’s £20k in the contract and £5k in a side letter. He’s registered.
Under the rules as written and considered Reyna’s registration is invalid, and because it’s a breach from the outset he’s ineligible. Numan on the other hand is now breaching the rules, but because his original registration was all correct he remains eligible.
Looks like LNS’s hands were tied by a poorly written rule set.
Were the players on the LNS list eligible to play in non-Scottish competitions?
Keep it real folks.
Half you guys claiming never to spend another penny probably don’t go, and the other half will return soon enough.
Less hysteria and more pragmatism is needed.
ernie lynch @13:02 asks “Ntassoolla, Why did the jury not convict of assault?”
You’re asking me to guess what went through the minds of a jury?!!?
Look at the end of my 12:58 post.
Also, try answering a question.
Why have you, along with some of your buddies, fallen into the trap of putting a cross where I put a tick?
….and another thing, how many esteemed judges are not ‘on the square’…..
There is no bond greater than that between brothers of the ludge.
Is this the 1800s we play football in?
Philbhoy Paul67 must be given time, just like Celtic must.
it’s on sky sports news now
Together.
Stronger.
…watch out for the Sleekits.
It’s been a blast everyone and I’ve met some decent people on here but I’ve deleted the twitter account, I’ve called skysports, the games a bogey I will never watch another game in this country.
I sent brother Campbell Ogilvie and Stewart Regan an email this morning asking who is leaking info from the SFA regarding the title stripping result last night and guess what only 1 man blocked me.
I totally understand where your all coming from by not hurting Celtic but come off it, years of cheating and they fine oldco who are being liquidated, corruption is rife and I want no part in it.
If our club had any balls they would make a statement and give the reasons why we won’t compete in this corrupt league anymore.
Job done by Ogilive, he will be the 1 to fall when reconstruction happens but it’s too late now.
Zombies can keep their corrupt trophies but any decent rangers fan will admit they got away with it and the bigots will still go on thinking they are the people, no wonder they have that ingrained because they are untouchable in this country.
Thanks to everyone on here
Not a White Wash!
this was a Blue Rinse!
I await the fallout!
My position is fluid as to whether I return to support my team playing within the confines of Scottish Football Administration.
Over to Celtic PLC!
MWD
Well today proves they were right about one thing…they are the peepil…in this corrupt backwater of a nation that’s for sure!
I’m too mad to come to a conclusion on how i personally move on from here…time for reflection and introspection for me.
…oh aye.
weeminger
I haven’t read that in exactly the same way as you. It looks to me like Alexander Bryson’s evidence has led the LNS commission to conclude that you can argue that if Claudio Reyna’s registration goes through, he is eligible to play. The authorities could have checked up and found a little problem with the documentation surrounding his remuneration and revoked his registration, but because they didn’t do that, he remained eligible to play.
Was he eligible to play in UEFA competitions though?
.
Your Dad has Been Caught Cheating on Your Mother for over 10 Years..
Do You get Angry and Scream at Your Mother…?????
Or Do You Support her Like You have Never Before..?
She is Innocent..!!!!
Shame on Supposed Supporters Through And Through..
Summa of FairWeatherSupportersCSC
weeminger
The rules were administered by Rangers men how could it be any different, to run a scam you need to have players in all the right places…
You know, the worst thing about all of this is that there is absolutely no remorse. If you thought there might be some changes made, some people sit up and say ok this is wrong we will change, we will become better then at least something positive comes out if it.
But they’re still the same horrible, arrogant club who think they are the peepul and get away with murder. They don’t see that what they have done is wrong and think it is their right.
I’ve had it. There’s no point. Even if we have a decade of domination of Scottish football it will still be corrupt to the core. Just because it would have no material affect on our current situation (getting back money from lost CL qualification was never going to happen) the moral aspect of it should still have stood.
Disillusioned although not at all surprised.
It is hard to take that we were being cheated for years but its now been shown in the naked light of day.What to do about it is more difficult do you continue to pay out your hard earned money to watch corrupt Scottish Football in the hope something will change ? Do you sit and wait for Celtic to come forward and criticise the cheating which is hardly likely to happen? Do you stop following Scottish Football and Celtic and put the money saved towards treating your family changeing your car or better holidays ? Well each of us will make our individual choice but to spend money knowing that it is not a level playing field will be hard to take. H.H.
Sunburst:
I cannot understand this idea about a masonic conspiracy helping the huns to such an extent. The huns died. So this supposed conspiracy was not very successful! We should not accuse people of being masons just because they made a decision we don’t like.
BBC coverage has been a disgrace. Glad I don’t pay the licence fee.
Boycott all SFA games! Disband Campbell Ogilvie’s reign!
Gut wrenchingly angry at what has gone down today. But yesterday l was a Celtic fan only not a fan of Scottish football … Today l am still a Celtic fan only not a fan of Scottish football… Tomorrow l will be a Celtic fan only not a fan of Scottish football .
I cannot hurt the club and the people l love. I cannot allow ‘ them’ to get stronger against us because we make ourselves weaker. We as a club a people and a case cannot stand divided. We know now more clearly than ever what ‘they’ are.
We have to ask what we stand for…for me that is being better than what they are because we do what is right.
The decision today is no other clubs shame but Rangers…no other countries shame but Scotland’s. But as l have never felt part of Scotland l will remain where my heart and soul lies at home in Celtic Park with my own folk. This is what defines me and makes me happy to be what l am. Today l am even more happy to be what l am and delighted not to be one of ‘them’
Today the truth for you, your fathers and their fathers :After todays verdict I think we knew the truth years ago.Its just been confirmed in big capital letters:UP YOU TIMMY
Geordie Munro
“Less hysteria and more pragmatism is needed.”
I don’t know how long you have been on here but many of these views were trailed in advance of the decision.They are considered rather than knee jerk and that is as far from hysteria as you can get.
Nobody will walk away from Celtic but we may withdraw our support for Scottish football wherein Celtic have to operate, if this is the climate we must accept.
The only punishment they suffered throughout this whole Fakeover period, was that brought about by fan pressure.
If the SFA/SPL had their way they would still be in the SPL this year with their debt dumped and their history intact.
Awe Naw
Any chance you could ask your UEFA contact if these players were eligible to play in UEFA competitions?