Campbell Ogilvie’s appointment as president of the SFA was always controversial. As general secretary and director of Rangers, Ogilvie was the club’s chief administrator during the final 11-year period they refused to employ Catholic footballers. In many other walks of life, this background would make him an embarrassing relic of a former era, but in Scottish football it was enough to see him promoted to the ultimate honour position.
He remained in position at Rangers long after the new regime of Sir David Murray arrived and set aside the decades-old sectarian employment policy but left the club in 2005, joining Hearts as operations director two months later. All of this puts the SFA president in central position regarding the on-going tax tribunal, which is charged with deciding if Rangers illegally evaded tax from a period starting in 2000 and going on well beyond Ogilvie’s departure.
If the First Tier Tribunal finds against Rangers the SFA must ask for Ogilvie’s immediate resignation. The association cannot have a president embroiled in a tax evasion scam which, even before a verdict has been decided, has already caused untold harm to his former club and the reputation Scottish football. The scale of the damage to public finances has yet to be definitively established but it will not make good reading.
The SFA has just embarked on its first proper investigation into whether directors of a football club, in this instance Rangers, are fit and proper persons to hold such a position. Office holders at the association cannot exercise power over the game if they are not subject to the same standards they demand from clubs. Pending this investigation, and the outcome of the tax tribunal, Ogilvie should temporarily step aside. Scotland is not yet a banana republic, public bodies must have robust ethics and must not allow the shadow of contagion to be cast over the body charged with ensuring legal and moral standards are adhered to.
The SFA has some enormously important months ahead. Its president is currently in a position to influence which course it takes and, if the tribunal verdict falls against Rangers, could be implicated in the scandal which precipitated the crisis. While I am sure Campbell Ogilvie will be shown to have acted with impeccable ethical standards, the SFA must quickly establish a structure clear of contagion.
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The Scotsman’s Tom English is currently taking questions online regards Rangers’ woes right now.
Awe_Naw_
It would be nice to ask Tom if he still stood by all the pash he wrote during the last year about Sir Minty and the Motherwell Billionaire…
Gig Young says:
21 February, 2012 at 12:27
can you get on ?
Pulling legs of a Daddy long legs
HH
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo says:
21 February, 2012 at 12:09
hen1rik says:
21 February, 2012 at 11:55
I think you will find that the SFA have pulled the majority of their own documents off from their website for public consumption
I wonder why ?
HAil HAil
Please tell me this aint true.
Folly Folly:
Lol roll up … roll up ….
ernie lynch:
So the regulations governing this are SFA regs? And which ones are they?
http://www.scotsman.com/scotland-on-sunday/webchats
Paul67
Ogilvie won’t stand aside because in his and the minds of football’s decision makers he did nothing wrong.
They will say it wasn’t him who stopped Rangers signing Catholics. They will also say the tax issue is only a problem now because they were caught.
The blazer and handshake brigade will look after their own as they always have. By the end of this Rangers signing Catholics will be down to Ogilvie.
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo says:
21 February, 2012 at 12:26
Patience……our time will come.
LB
Due to the eviction at Dale Farm the travellers have been offered an alternative site at car park of Rangers Football Club. Furious at the thought of dirty, thieving in-bred, illiterate tax dodgers living on their doorstep, the travellers have turned it down.
i’ll get my coat……
The Laddy McGeary says:
21 February, 2012 at 12:06
Afternoon Bhoys!
I may be wrong but did Tevez not have a similar 3rd party contract at West Ham?
======
I’m pretty sure you’re right.
I recall Sheffield Utds argument was he was an ineligible player & points should have been deducted for the matches he played. A points deduction would have relegated WHU rather than SU. A EPL panel found in favour of SU (presumably confirming a rule(s) had been broken) and fined WHU (£5m?) but did not deduct WHU points.
SU I think then went to the High Court although they lost the action they persuaded the EPL/FA set up an independent tribunal. SU claimed £45m but an out of court settlement then ensued, thought to be £10m
Awe Naw 12.04
He is the secretary of the Rankers supporters club.
HAIL HAIL
12:08
Afternoon folks. Sorry for my late arrival. So, Rangers, eh? Let’s talk…
12:09
Comment From invictager
Can you explain how it was possible for Whyte to secure Rangers assets against a loan when he did not own the club.
12:10
I think we’ll leave that to the administrators and possibly the police to sort out…
12:10
Comment From danny
so whens the next big bit of news coming from whyte ?
12:10
From Whyte? I’d say he will lie low for a little while now.
12:11
Comment From Guest
what will happen to rangers after all the sectarian and anti-irish chanting emanating from the stands at ibrox on saturday last?
12:12
The same thing that always happen. Nothing. The SPL rules are a joke. It’s almost impossible for a club to be done for sectarian chanting under their rules. I’ve written about this endlessly before. Did a big piece with Neil Doncaster and Ian Blair late last year about it.
12:12
Comment From Willie M
Tom, everyone continues to talk about the worst case scenario for Rangers (i.e tax issues, criminal investigations, etc). What in your opinion is the best case scenario for Rangers moving forward.
12:13
Best case? That Whyte is found to be either an unsecured creditor or is guilty of something illegal. He is then removed. HMRC do a deal for the tax debt and somebody else buys the club. That’s a hell of a stretch though
12:13
Comment From anobody
do you think the mainstream media are complicit in rfc situation.
12:15
We could all have done better. But don’t give me this nonsense about new media leading the way. Rangerstaxcase has been excellent and we all have to learn the lessons. But the rest of them have printed utter garbage all the way through. So, good journalism and bad journalism and good bloggers and bad bloggers
12:15
Comment From danny
what about the celtic and hibs match
12:16
I wrote about what happened at that game. Do you read the paper/website?
12:16
Comment From fra
does the club need to be liquated before a serious bidder will emerge?
12:16
That’s a great question. The administrators say no. I’m not so sure about that. I still say liquidation is a very real possibility despite what the administrators say
12:17
Comment From Guest
Do you know anything we haven’t already seen on Twitter ?
12:17
Depends what you’ve seen on Twitter
12:17
Comment From Stephen
Do you blame fans of other clubs for not feeling any sympathy for Rangers? It’s not gloating, it’s righteous indignation…
12:17
I don’t blame them at all, no
12:18
Comment From DailyMan
Tom, Do you think Whyte is a wrongun?
12:19
It looks it, doesn’t it. Absolutely. My Q and A with him from October was enlightening about his obsessive secrecy.
12:19
Comment From Dave
Any sign of another media briefing from the administrators?
12:19
I’m sure there will be one in the coming days Dave. They haven’t spoken officially since Saturday so they will have a lot of new information to tell us by now
12:20
Comment From Stu
When will the SFA and SPL act on the Celtic fans sectarian chanting? A Celtic fan was found guilty in a court of sectarian crime a few years ago for having the word ‘hun’ on his top yet Celtic fans sing songs with this word week in week out.
12:23
They’re a dead loss on this issue. I believe Stewart Regan has the stomach for the fight and might try and change things but as it stands you can sing anything you like inside a football ground in Scotland and the SPL will not punish the club involve
12:23
Comment From Guest
Do you know anything about rumours circulating that certain Rangers players are contracted to third parties
12:23
No
12:23
Comment From DailyMan
How many players at Rangers do you expect to see terminated this week?
12:23
I’d be guessing. Nobody but the administrators know the answer to that
12:24
Comment From Guest
yes indeed what will happen. Especially now that they have no incentive to stop – what are they going to do – fine them – no money – dock points – pointless now – ban them from europe – what europe – they will have to rely on morality – i fear the worst – they will drag our football club even further into embarrasment
12:25
Saturday at Ibrox was a horror show. It was the bigoted songs and the vast numbers that were singing that was truly shocking. It wasn’t just some small groups, it was many many thousands
12:25
Comment From Bring them on
Tom, Craig Whyte says that he is life-time Rangers fan. Do you know if he ever went to any games before recent events?
12:28
CW claims a lot of things and we know that some of the things he has said have turned out to be untrue. And there’s huge question marks over many other things he has said. I quizzed him relentlessly (only part of it ever appeared in the paper) about all sorts of things in his past and his association with Rangers and you cannot get to the truth of the guy no matter how hard you press him. So is he a real fan? I don’t know. He says is hugely shocked at the profile that came with Rangers chairman. If he was a fan since boyhood wouldn’t he know that this is one of the most high profile jobs in the country?? I would have though so
12:28
Comment From fra
what about campbell oglivies position at the SFA, he was on the board at rangers at the time of the ebts, is his position now untenable?
12:28
Questions to answer. Lots of them
12:28
Comment From invictager
The best case scenario is obviously where someone or some group step up and pay everything owed to chase Whyte back to Monaco. I think your scenario is more likely than mine.
12:28
Comment From Guest
Hi Tom, Is Campbell Ogilve’s position at the SFA untenable if Rangers lose the big tax case?
12:29
Let’s not prejudge it. But he has questions to answers, as I said earlier
12:29
Comment From Melbourne Exile
If a newco Rangers is formed, won’t fans simply walk away from the farce that the SPL would become?
12:29
No. Why would Celtic fans or any other fans walk away just because there is a new Rangers?
12:30
Comment From DailyMan
Is now the time for Rangers to get into the English setup on a wave of public sympathy?
12:30
Dream on. They don’t want Rangers. Or Celtic. They’ve made that pretty darn clear
12:30
Comment From GordonR
Any idea of what the mood is behind the scenes with this, at other Scottish clubs?
12:32
Not really. I was fairly single-minded on Rangers last week.
12:32
Comment From Ger
While it was disappointing to hear the chants surface at Ibrox, do you not think it is just as unedifying to hear chants about huns at Easter Road and the over the top celebrations from their supporters. Could their chief executive and manager not show somemoderation in their comments. They have by their actions heightened tensions.
KJam & Awe Naw
The SFA Handbook is available here:
SFA Publications
pages 165 and 183 appear to hold the important regs.
I think the main sticking point re the player registrations is whether the parent company can be proven to be a 3rd party. Any CQN legal eagles, or indeed beagles, might be able to expand upon that – I don’t have a clue.
Tombola
leftclicktic says:
21 February, 2012 at 12:31
Alles Klaar
James Forrest is The Emperor of Ice Cream says:
21 February, 2012 at 12:28
‘So the regulations governing this are SFA regs? And which ones are they?’
No idea. It might be in here somewhere. I don’t know if the allegations stand up or not, all I’m saying is that it’s not an SPL matter.
http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/resources/documents/SFAPublications/ScottishFApublications2011-12/Scottish%20FA%20Handbook.pdf
Endless inquiries = whitewash = exoneration for Rankers. 10pt. deduction,business as usual; well worth it for massive scam. This is ‘modern’ Scotland’s shame;The Orange Lodge stitching it up while laughing at evryone else as they rip them off and illegally enrich themselves by any means necessary.
I’m sickened by the stench of inevitability in all of this.
Half Time Tombola says:
21 February, 2012 at 12:32
There are still quite a few docs that have been pulled. Maybe being updated.
HAil Hail
Hi Paul,
”Scotland is not yet a banana republic, public bodies must have robust ethics and must not allow the shadow of contagion to be cast over the body charged with ensuring legal and moral standards are adhered to.
Totally agree with your sentiments re: Campbell Ogilvie it is important that the Scottish Football authorities must be seen as unimpeachable.
Since I saw the conditions of the SPL’s TV deal being brought up (in terms of Scottish Football needs R@ngers) it got me thinking, what would folk say if UEFA signed a TV deal for the Champions league guaranteeing Barcelona would meet Manchester United in the last eight of the Champions League.
RFC could finish in the bottom six this season, it is NOT BEYOND THE REALMS OF POSSIBILITY and the players’ registration issue increases the potential for this eventuality.
Unlikely as it is – it is NOT BEYOND THE REALMS OF POSSIBILITY that RFC drop more points, then are deducted more points – two of the following three scenarios could be enough to see them in the bottom half of the split:
• They become uncompetitive in the league due to Player redundancies.
• The players’ registrations are not in order – The SFA have been severe on teams in recent seasons – so more points deducted.
• RFC get out of Administration in a timely manner only to have another insolvency event hit them with the Big Tax case – so more points deducted
HOW does this impact the SKY TV DEAL?
It is said that the SPL have guaranteed Sky Four Glasgow Derbies per year, now only three are scheduled, the last game is dependent on the final league positions before the split. Now it would be fair to assume that the Glasgow clubs are going to be in the top six but it can’t be guaranteed unless the SPL are going to fix it – this of course is implausible.
Furthermore it is hugely unlikely that RFC or Celtic were going to get relegated but again NOT BEYOND THE REALMS OF POSSIBILITY.
That being the case the lawyers must have inserted a caveat in the T&Cs of the TV contract that will detail what happens in such a scenario – I would imagine this would be a financial penalty rather than a cancellation clause.
So could the folks that made the Four Glasgow derbies clause so prominent also make transparent the conditions of default clause, but most importantly the SPL must explain why they signed a contract guaranteeing a scenario that was dependant on a certain outcome of a Competition.
Crisis! What Crisis? 17 points clear & counting!
12:32
I wasn’t at Easter Road so I don’t know what was or wasn’t sung there.
12:33
Comment From fra
will rangers lose the titles and cups that they won whilst not paying taxs?
12:33
Look, let’s see if they’re guilty first. But I doubt it to be honest.
12:33
Comment From Steve P
Do you think – if Rangers have to reform and start from the bottom of Scottish football – new buyers may consider acquiring the registration of lower league English club (in smilar fashion MK Dons?) and try to work up to the EPL that way?
12:35
I’m not sure I understand where you’re coming from Steve
At the end of January, the story that was covering the front pages and headlining the main news programmes on the television was the one of Stephen Hester.
the chief exectutive officer fo RBS an establishment that is 82% owned by tax payers “earned” a bonus of £963,000. There was outcry from all angles, the general public, media and also politicians including including salmond and cameron. Hester done the honourable thing and decided not to take the bonus.
Roll the clock forward a fortnight. and we learn that £9m of the taxpayers money has been siphoned away in a 9 month period from another one of the country’s “establishments”. No gnashing of teeth from esteemed politicians, no, the very opposite happens, the two mentioned above are interviewed and instead of condemning them, they show support and seem hell bent on saving them.
I have in the past voted for SNP and it’s my vote amongst others that have put him in the position he is in. Although i would love to see Scotland as an indipendant nation, i will not be giving him any future support.
PC67
ulysses mcghee 12.17
As somebody said last week google “P@@h Stained alky”.
HAIL HAIL
I can’t believe Octopus (Ticketus) would leave themselves open on this one. All very strange, unsurprisingly I know.
Looking through the Octopus website they have several staff who came over from Close Brothers a sponsor of the http://www.primaryassetfinance.co.uk (now offline) Betts company who was a close friend of MBB. So you can just imagine the conversation.
‘Hi MBB’
Hi Betts’
‘Think I’m going to buy a wee club and strip them down, how would I go about that, any tips on financing as I’m broke’
‘Hmm, yeah MBB I know these guys called Ticketus, know a lot of the bhoys over there.’
“OK Betts, how does it work?’
‘Well you can mortgage off season tickets sales MBB’.
MBB face lights up. ‘Tell me more’
He tells him more.
‘OK Betts, can you fix it for me to get a mortgage on something I don’t own yet? Just need to show I have cash’
No problem MBB, if I do can I get a wee seat as an advisor and get in on the game?
‘Sure’
Tom British is Arsene Wenger
Hear see & speak no evil …. a baboon of the lowest order
Comment From Guest
Do you think that the whole scenario with whyte taking over is all part of a master plan to allow Dave king et al to take over the club with minimal debt, with whyte riding off into the sunset for a few million quid for his role playing the villan
12:35
Dave King is still mired in tax problems in South Africa. If he’s the great Redeemer then God help Rangers
12:36
Comment From Guest
do you actually take what these administrators say seriously?
12:36
Very. Who would you rather listen to?
12:36
Comment From Willie M
Is Lawwell even considering the rest of Scottish football with his assertion that Celtic don’t need Rangers?
12:37
It was a nonsense statement from PL. Privately he will surely know that.
12:37
Comment From Daryll
Do you think that Rangers troubles are due to hubris?
12:37
If HMRC case goes against them and they are hit with a massive tax bill then their undoing will be hubris and ego, no question.
12:37
Comment From danny
of course a do just some journos only speak up at certain times
12:38
Comment From Guest
Stu needs to look up the definition of the word Hun
12:38
Comment From Bring them on
Duff and Phelps was an interesting appointment. Better known for real esate work. Do we know why they were selected ahead of the more obvious choices?
Yuuuuup
Same result :))))))
HAIL HAIL
James Forrest is The Emperor of Ice Cream says:
21 February, 2012 at 12:03
James – I wouldn’t have thought any local FA would need to reinvent UEFA regs similarly FIFA regs. I’d have throught there would be a clause like “here are our local regs, they do no invalidate the UEFA, then FIFA regs. In the event of any apparent conflict, UEFA regs win, ditto FIFA regs” you get the idea.
HH
TLK
FIFA’s Professional Football Player Contract Minimum Requirements
“1.4…….A professional football player contract can only be concluded by a football Club and its legal entity..”
Panel appointed by SFA for enquiry into Rangers. Lord William Nimmo Smith leading it
http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/scottish_fa_news.cfm?page=2111&newsID=9354
ernie lynch at 12:33
See page 165, section 4 – Agreement between club and player.
Can’t copy and paste it as file is encrypted but it quite clearly states that “All payments to be made to a player relating to his playing activities must be clearly recorded upon the relevant contract/or agreement. No payments for his playing activities may be made to a player via a third party.”
Mort
Independent inquiry panel appointed
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
The Scottish FA can confirm that it has appointed as Chair The Right Honourable Lord William Nimmo Smith to inquire independently into Rangers FC.
Stewart Regan, the Scottish FA chief executive, met with Lord Nimmo Smith today to define the terms of reference for the investigation. Lord Nimmo Smith is a former Senator of the College of Justice, who has served as an Insolvency Judge. In 2002, he was one of five judges who heard the appeal of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, at the Scottish Court in the Netherlands.
The independent panel will include Professor Niall Lothian OBE, a Past President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland who was recently honoured in the New Year Honours List for services to Corporate and Civic Governance in Scotland. It also includes Bob Downes, former Director with the BT Group and currently Deputy Chairman of the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, and Stewart Regan, a member of the panel in his capacity as director of the Scottish FA.
The Independent Inquiry shall be afforded the same powers as the Scottish FA to investigate the potential breach of a number of its Articles of Association and shall present its findings to the Board within two weeks.
Stewart Regan, Scottish FA chief executive: “I am delighted Lord Nimmo Smith has agreed to Chair the Independent Inquiry. I am certain the experience contained within the panel will enable us to achieve more clarity on the situation regarding Rangers FC. There will be no further comment on the investigation until it is complete and its findings presented to the Board.”
Just had a read at the SPL Rules.
If a player’s registration was changed from Rangers FC PLC (in administration) to any other body their contract would need to be amended, which the SPL would need to be informed of, according to SPL Rules:
“D1.13 A Club must, as a condition of Registration and for a Player to be eligible to Play in Official Matches, deliver the executed originals of all Contracts of Service and amendments and/or extensions to Contracts of Service and all other agreements providing for payment, other than for reimbursement of expenses actually incurred, between that Club and Player, to the Secretary, within fourteen days of such Contract of Service or other agreement being entered into, amended and/or, as the case may be, extended.”
And this section below says that payment can only be made to a player as part of a contract between the Club and the Player. That would outlaw payments from a third party, I think:
“D9.3 No Player may receive any payment of any description from or on behalf of a Club in respect of that Player’s participation in Association Football or in an activity connected with Association Football, other than in reimbursement of expenses actually incurred or to be actually incurred in playing or training for that Club, unless such payment is made in accordance with a Contract of Service between that Club and the Player concerned.”
Published on Sunday 5 February 2012 00:00
Craig Whyte ends a difficult week with a candid discussion with Tom English, on where the season ticket money has gone, the Jelavic deal and the future of Rangers
Q: There is also talk, on top of everything else, of £5m owed in VAT. Are you sitting on a Mount Everest of debt?
A: There’s a lot of media hostility towards myself and Rangers. It irks me sometimes. The VAT thing is rubbish. I have regular dialogue with HMRC about a number of issues, in particular the Employment Benefit Trust case. All sorts of things. I talk to them often, I know exactly what they’re doing and what they’re thinking and there’s no issue on that front.
CRAIGWHYTECSC…
Awe Naw
Aye there might well be – I’ll take your word for it on that as that’s the first time in about 9 months I’ve been on the SFA website and can’t remember what was there last time.
The Handbook contains all(?) the regulations I believe and the document properties state it hasn’t been changed since it was created on (19/07/11). Again – I don’t know how difficult it would be to amend this date.
Tombola
ulysses mcghee says:
21 February, 2012 at 11:46
>>>Is Regan making any noises about the ongoing fiasco?
What a great choice of word ‘fiasco’. Just for giggles I looked it up. Here’s what my trusty Mac’s dictionary had to say on the word:
fiasco |fɪˈaskəʊ|
noun ( pl. -cos)
a thing that is a complete failure, esp. in a ludicrous or humiliating way : his plans turned into a fiasco.
Not often a dictionary brings a smile to my face!
Oh Paul
I never disagree with you normally but I think you are wrong when you say Scotland is not yet a banana republic — — I think it is! Apart from that though, what chance does the SFA have to get rid of Ogrevey when he’s top man?
A hibby friend sent this, not brilliant but made me smile!
Simple Simon met Craig Whyte going to the jail
Said Simple Simon to Craig Whyte
Hail Hail Hail
KINGLuBO
Half Time Tombola says:
21 February, 2012 at 12:42
I know and its easy
Hail Hail
James Forrest
There is no specific reference within the SPL res to 3rd party interference etc.
However within SPL rules & regs it is documented that specific rules must comply with FIFA rules & regs.
——-
SPL Rules & Regulations
D1.13 A Club must, as a condition of Registration and for a Player to be eligible to Play in Official Matches, deliver the executed originals of all Contracts of Service and amendments and/or extensions to Contracts of Service and all other agreements providing for payment, other than for reimbursement of expenses actually incurred, between that Club and Player, to the Secretary, within fourteen days of such Contract of Service or other agreement being entered into, amended and/or, as the case may be, extended.
D1.14 By permitting himself to be Registered, a Player shall be deemed to have submitted himself to the jurisdiction of the Company and the Board and to have agreed to adhere to, comply with and be subject to these Rules and any decisions, sanctions and/or penalties imposed by and/or determined in accordance with these Rules and to have agreed to comply with the statutes and regulations of FIFA and the articles of association and regulations of the SFA.
FIFA ARTICLE 18
Article 18bis Third-party influence on clubs
1. No club shall enter into a contract which enables any other party to that contract or any third party to acquire the ability to influence in employment and transfer-related matters its independence, its policies or the performance of its teams.
2. The FIFA Disciplinary Committee may impose disciplinary measures on clubs that do not observe the obligations set out in this article.
SPL RULES & REGS
FIFA REGS ON STATUS & TRANSFER OF PLAYERS.
MWD
HECTOR – Moonbeams WD. Kano 1000 \o/ Supporting Neil Lennon 100%. says:
21 February, 2012 at 12:46
Thanks for that – James – what he said.
HH
TLK
Cracking article Paul67 – many thanks.
Too much to expect CO to do the decent thing of course.