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.
[calameo code=000390171980e8545b80a lang=en page=10 hidelinks=1 width=100% height=500]
776 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- ...
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- »
I would say the SPL clubs should have a case for taking this to the Court of Arbitration for Sport which would presumably have more cognisance of the spirit of the rules of the game and would not be swayed by a narrow and senseless legal interpretation
VertWolf
This has made me more determined to buy myself and my 12 yr old daughter season tickets for next season
FTSFA
UTLR
It’s not just us:
http://boards.footymad.net/forum.php?tno=4&fid=27&sty=2&act=1&mid=2113147323
The ‘administrative error’ is a fig leaf for an inquiry clearly settled on a whitewash. Is that the best they could do? I suppose it was their only option, other than telling the truth. An ‘administrative error’ that went on and on and on, for player after player, for an entire decade! If you read back on Paul’s recent quotes from the FTT, it was there alleged that there was a deliberate attempt to conceal the side letters from the old club’s auditors and the tax man. Are we seriously expected to believe that this was a mere mistake?! It’s so transparent as a patent attempt to deny reality. And even if it was an ‘error’, precedents for SINGLE transgressions in player registration invoke far more serious sanctions for other clubs.
As for no competitive advantage gained, first off this is actually irrelevant (your players have to have all their earnings declared or they are ineligible, and if they are ineligble the match they play in is null and void), but presumably LNS is using the oldco’s ‘victory’ in the big tax case; but it wasn’t a victory – several players’ EBTs were found to be illegal. Can someone tell me if I have got this wrong? How can the inquiry feasibly ignore these players, and the competitie advantage they brought?
Paul, thanks for your excellent efforts in explaining all of the issues at stake, but I fear that your call regarding the integrity of this inquiry was off the mark. Do you still believe that LNS inquiry has acted sincerely, in good faith? I cannot explain the above anomalies by any other means than a whitewash.
My club has been cheated out of trophy after trophy, and tens of millions of pounds of cash and opportunity cost. I never expected to get the money back, but I had hoped for the truth to be told, and for the titles to be instated into our record book. It would have been some consolation. Instead we are left with nothing.A truly disturbing day.
Time to change the goalposts at Celtic park ! Resign from sfa with immediate effect and submit a request to the GAA to join the Gaelic association. Draconian you say !!! Don’t think so ! Association football in Scotland died today beware the ides of march right enough !!!! LOVE CELTIC HATE CORRUPTION !!
Just informed my old dad of the decision.
Just shook his head, muttered ‘bastards’ and went for a lie down.
I can still hear him uttering a few choice comments.
I did say earlier on this morning that I would not be holding my breath – sadly I was right.
Sick and scunnered.
Celtic board to make a comment? Possibly. Will await it with bated breath.
A VERY sad, but not unexpected, day.
HH!!
Malone Bhoy at 13:15
“You know, the worst thing about all of this is that there is absolutely no remorse.”
—
Excellent point.
Summa
I prefer the wife beating analogy myself. If Celtic go back to the wife beater they cant be helped. Especially if the wife enjoys it
HH
I never listen to radio phone ins but happened upon Clyde last night as I made my way to Fir Park.
I heard one call, a hun, talking about how his club should get out of Scottish football because everything was being done to hinder their progress.
I wonder how he feels at the moment.
Disgutsing but hardly surprising.
Just about had it with Scottish football.
There are times when I miss my home.
We romanticize the life we left and now that I am retired we have even considered a return.
My gut reaction now says “No way Jose.”
The establishment rule of law:
Justice for ra peepil, by ra peepil.
It seems that Rangers (IL) were responsible for cheating but are somehow beyond punishment.
Is there no Journalist or commentator going to ask why Graeme Souness was paid from this Trust almost 10 years after he left the club?
.
Oliver Cromwell..
Oliver Reed..
Oliver Twist..
Summa of OliversCSC
Sftb,
I hear you but I’ll take note.
Lots of decent ideas kicking about, a few of which I agree with.
Just in case we were unclear.
Rankers 2012 were cleared of any tax wrongdoings ( more or less ) in the FTT, so no case to answer. Rankers 2012 were also cleared of any wrongdoings ( more or less ) regarding contracted side payments to players not being declared to the football authorities, it was an administrative mistake ( ahem ).
So all we have read and all that has been disclosed about EBT,s, side letters, contracts, obstructive co -operation, etc. did not happen.
Is this the bit were Bobby Ewing now comes out the shower?
Celtic will do nothing. They make more money than anyone out of the charade that is Scottish football.
This is where we are at. Football is no longer a sport especially in Scotland.
HH
glover
13:20 on
28 February, 2013
NO :(
HT-
Tom English made a similar point earlier.
I wonder if the SPL Board could appeal this? Particularly if the fans of all their current member clubs were to make it plain that they should!
VertWolf
[86] Evidence was given by Alexander Bryson, Head of Registrations at the SFA, who described the registration process.
During the course of his evidence he explained that, once a player had been registered with the SFA, he remained registered unless and until his registration was revoked. Accordingly, even if there had been a breach of the SFA registration procedures, such as a breach of SFA Article 12.3, the registration of a player was not treated as being invalid from the outset, and stood unless and
until it was revoked.
[87] Mr McKenzie explained to us that SPL Rule D1.13 had hitherto been understood to mean
that if, at the time of registration, a document was not lodged as required, the consequence was
that a condition of registration was broken and the player automatically became ineligible to play in terms of SPL Rule D1.11. He accepted however that there was scope for a different construction of the rule, to the effect that, as the lodging of the document in question was a condition of registration, the registration of the player would be liable to revocation, with the consequence that the player would thereafter become ineligible to play. He accepted that no provision of the Rules enabled the Board of the SPL retrospectively to terminate the registration of the player. It became apparent from his submissions that Mr McKenzie was not pressing for a finding that Issue
3(c), together with the concluding words of Issue 3(b), had been proved.
[88] In our opinion, this was a correct decision by Mr McKenzie. There is every reason why
the rules of the SFA and the SPL relating to registration should be construed and applied
consistently with each other. Mr Bryson’s evidence about the position of the SFA in this regard was clear. In our view, the Rules of the SPL, which admit of a construction consistent with those of the SFA, should be given that construction. All parties concerned – clubs, players and footballing authorities – should be able to proceed on the faith of an official register. This means that a player’s registration should generally be treated as standing unless and until revoked.
This gobbledegook means that in the eyes of the authorities you are not cheating until you are caught cheating.
More interestingly it means that a Club Secretary decides not to follow the rules and place all bits of the contract into the sfa and spl submissions. Official at sfa does not catch on to the fact that documents submitted are incomplete and that registrations should be revoked. Players remain eligible.This happens over an 11 year period.
Plausible. Especially since the club secretary and the sfa official are the same person, Campbell Ogilvie.
Celtic_First – 13:15 on 28 February, 2013
Yes I’ve seen that now as well.
However in the case of the Spartans player, was his registration never accepted? If that wasn’t the case then, they’ve obviously got their knickers twisted.
It would also make the whole registration process questionable. If you submitted a registration with any amount of false documentation and it was accepted then that registration would be fine. That would make no sense at all. Whereas I can at least see where this is coming from, even if it’s ridiculous.
weeminger
13:09 on
28 February, 2013
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.
——————————
Poorly written regulations,the same as the rules which a certain mr Paul Mc bride easily saw through.
I am pretty sure if you go through the SFA’s rule book there will be plenty of rulings open to interperidation.
The reason why is so it can be used to minipulate same scenarios but with different outcomes,for different teams.
the Sfa rule book has been written so it benefits if needs be.
When these matters arose before Uefa , i can remember them saying, “they will leave it up to the sfa to sort out” or to those words.
The Sfa caused this mess let them get themselfs out of it.and it appears they have.
I love Celtic and they have done nothing wrong.the Establishment will be happy to see Celtic fans not turning up at parkhead ,weakening our side,while they get stronger.
We are hurt and we are down ,but we are certainly not out.
I am just hoping ,we are going to start to a more level playing field from now on.
Hail Hail
Anyone care to inform clubs who competed in UEFA competitions between 2000 and 2011 against a Scottish club with improperly registered players?
Anyone care to inform FC Sion that an independent tribunal in Scotland found that a football club had improperly registered players and was allowed to participate in UEFA competitions between 2000 and 2011?
I usually find CQN cathartic after a bad Celtic day/defeat but today feels different, even though Celtic are only in-directly involved in this shambles. Today, I feel compelled to extricate myself completely from everything associated with Scottish football.
Goodbye, Bhoys.
PS – Young Marcus Fraser out for 9-12 months with cruciate knee injury.
.
awe_naw_no_annoni_oan_anaw_noo
13:19 on
28 February, 2013
Summa
I prefer the wife beating analogy myself. If Celtic go back to the wife beater they cant be helped. Especially if the wife enjoys it
HH
..
You have Probably explained better than I Ever could the Difference between me and You as Celtic ‘Su
The Ghood will prevail
13:18
your players have to have all their earnings declared or they are ineligible, and if they are ineligble the match they play in is null and void
—
The report makes it clear that this is only one interpretation. With the help of Alexander Bryson, LNS and his colleagues were made to see that an alternative interpretation is possible. You register a player. The football authorities say it’s all right. You play him. The football authorities have the right to take a look and say his registration is incorrect (for the reasons you give), but they fail to exercise that right (Mr Bryson and LNS don’t tell us why they didn’t in this case and I just can’t imagine what reason there could be) so the player’s registration remains valid and he is eligible to play.
But is he eligible to play in UEFA competitions?
Angry as we all are, I cannot see how on earth abandoning Celtic is an appropriate response.
This has made more more committed to the club than ever. Anything else is cowardice in the face of a determined enemy.
Big guy at the back at
Very sorry to hear that about Marcus Fraser. I wish him a speedy recovery.
Well, well, well, quelle surprise…….Not!
Plus ca change, plus cest la meme chose.
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
It wasn’t unlawful tax avoidance; it gave no competitive advantage because the failure to register additional footballing payments would not have rendered the registrations of players ineligible had they been declared; it was all an unfortunate administration error, the club has been let down by the failings of Oldco’s Board but this is nothing to do with the fans and those running Newco who are all fine, upstanding volk of this country; Rule Britannia; We Arra Peepl….
Good night and thank you from the Independent Commissioners.
Oh we got the truth today alright – from the top to the bottom the whole of Scottish Football is rotten and its only prupose is to support one club.
Well I’ve had enough of it !!!
Sky & ESPN cancelled as soon as I get home from work with both left in no uncertain terms why I’m cancelling
If there is no reaction from Celtic I will never set foot in CP again nor will I spend a penny on any merchandise – it will hurt me but I refuse to bow down and treated as 2nd class. Celtic should post their notice of intention to withdraw from the Scottish game. Afterall apparently its what they want !
DISGUSTED in every possible way
.
..
You have Probably explained better than I Ever could the Difference between me and You as Celtic ‘Supporter’ .. As I Said through and through ..
Ps.. The Wife beater Does Not Love the Husband .. She Loves the Beatings/Drama..
Summa
i dont think a supporter would bycott celtic as long as celtic fc makes a clear statement that they strongly dissagree with todays findings..thats all thats required..we know that ultimately celtic fc can do nothing about the years of cheating
Summa
Perfect way to explain it
Interesting to think about the “no sporting advantage gained on the field of play” theory. Maybe next time we play we should make a fourth substitution and claim that the guy coming on didn’t play any better than the guy coming off…..
ItaliaBhoy @13:26 declares “Angry as we all are, I cannot see how on earth abandoning Celtic is an appropriate response.
This has made more more committed to the club than ever. Anything else is cowardice in the face of a determined enemy.”
Totally agree.
We, and all others in Scottish football of a like mind, must find our way out of this.
Why on earth did we expect anything different? What in history suggests it would be different ? Internet sminternet!
Anybody got messi’s number – tell him we’ll offer him a very large admistrative mistake and get away with it.
But – it won’t just be us who’ll feel injustice has prevailed.
Today is the day that senior football in Scotland died.
R.I.P.