Imatim
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HRVATSKI JIM on 5TH JANUARY 2020 11:14 AM
From The Herald
HeraldScotland4MENU
SPORTFOOTBALL3 hrs ago
SFA remain quiet on Rangers’ UEFA licence charges
By Ewing Grahame
Alastair Johnston (centre) at the Rangers AGM meeting this year
Almost 20 months since the SFA’s compliance officer hit Rangers with two charges concerning their application for a licence to play in Europe in 2011/12, the ruling body continues to do nothing to take matters forward.
The last act of Clare Whyte’s predecessor, Tony McGlennan, was – following an eight-month investigation – to issue the charges against Rangers in June 2018 after sworn statements made in court during the trial of former owner Craig Whyte revealed that the board at Ibrox had been made aware in January, 2011, of money owed to HMRC regarding what became known as the Wee Tax Case, when payments were made to several players under the Discounted Option Scheme in an attempt to dodge tax.
UEFA insists that all clubs taking part in their competitions must declare overdue tax payable. However, Rangers claimed in their submission for a licence in 2011 that they had no overdue payables and that they were “in discussions” over a disputed tax bill.
However, Rangers directors testified during the Whyte trial that the club knew the tax bill was overdue in November, 2010. As a result of their application being granted, Rangers were allowed to compete in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League (where they were eliminated by Malmo) and the Europa League (where they lost out to Maribor); had their application been rejected – as it should have been – then Celtic, runners-up in the SPL in 2011, would have taken their place in the Champions League.
That alleged obfuscation formed the basis of the first charge, as was revealed in a letter sent by the SFA to all member clubs in September, 2017, which also explained the second charge by explaining that Rangers did not observe the rules that: “All members shall:- (a) observe the principles of loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship in accordance with the rules of fair play; (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 Protocol, a committee or sub-committee, FIFA, UEFA or the Court of Arbitration for Sport; (f) behave towards the Scottish FA and other members with the utmost good faith.”
Sanctions available for the latter breach range from a £1,000 fine up to “£5,000,000 and/or ejection from the Scottish Cup and/or exclusion from the Scottish Cup and/or any player registration restrictions and/or suspension and/or termination of membership and/or any sanction or disposal not expressly provided above”.
Rangers immediately argued that the SFA, as a result of the secret Five-Way Agreement they and the SPFL signed in 2012 following the descent into liquidation of the old club, had no jurisdiction in this case and that the matter could only be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland, an opinion upheld by the SFA’s own judicial panel in June, 2018. Since then, nothing.
When I pressed him on the matter in June of last year, SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell said: “I would expect that to come back to the board in the not too distant future.
“It [going to CAS] is still under consideration. We’ll come back on that in due course. I wouldn’t want to put a timescale on it . . . but I don’t think we would let it go for ever.”
We asked the SFA on Tuesday whether a decision had been arrived at concerning the next step in this procedure. They said they would get back to us but there has yet to be a response from them.
Alastair Johnston, a director of Rangers International Football Club, this week gave an interview in which he taunted Celtic supporters who claim that the current Rangers is a separate entity from the club which imploded in 2012.
“You know what?” he asked. “If that was the end of Rangers and Celtic and if that was the end of the big game that started in 1888 [the first Old Firm meeting] all the way to 2012 – we won that game.
“The way you determine it by the number of times (54) we won the top division. We were ahead in February, 2012 and in head-to-head victories, we were ahead of Celtic in 2012.
“So if you wanted to say the old Rangers of 1872 died – we beat you 2-0 and when the game started again in 2012, it will be 120 years or so before you can tie with us.”
Mr Johnston was removed from the board at Ibrox by Whyte in 2011, but not before he declared in the club’s interim accounts that year that the Wee Tax Bill was a “potential” liability rather than an actual, overdue one.
It’s understood that it is his signature which appears on the UEFA application which the SFA now believes was consequently awarded in error. Curiously, though, they seem reluctant to proceed with their charges.
HRVATSKI JIM on 5TH JANUARY 2020 11:14 AM
From The Herald
HeraldScotland4MENU
SPORTFOOTBALL3 hrs ago
SFA remain quiet on Rangers’ UEFA licence charges
By Ewing Grahame
Alastair Johnston (centre) at the Rangers AGM meeting this year
Almost 20 months since the SFA’s compliance officer hit Rangers with two charges concerning their application for a licence to play in Europe in 2011/12, the ruling body continues to do nothing to take matters forward.
The last act of Clare Whyte’s predecessor, Tony McGlennan, was – following an eight-month investigation – to issue the charges against Rangers in June 2018 after sworn statements made in court during the trial of former owner Craig Whyte revealed that the board at Ibrox had been made aware in January, 2011, of money owed to HMRC regarding what became known as the Wee Tax Case, when payments were made to several players under the Discounted Option Scheme in an attempt to dodge tax.
UEFA insists that all clubs taking part in their competitions must declare overdue tax payable. However, Rangers claimed in their submission for a licence in 2011 that they had no overdue payables and that they were “in discussions” over a disputed tax bill.
However, Rangers directors testified during the Whyte trial that the club knew the tax bill was overdue in November, 2010. As a result of their application being granted, Rangers were allowed to compete in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League (where they were eliminated by Malmo) and the Europa League (where they lost out to Maribor); had their application been rejected – as it should have been – then Celtic, runners-up in the SPL in 2011, would have taken their place in the Champions League.
That alleged obfuscation formed the basis of the first charge, as was revealed in a letter sent by the SFA to all member clubs in September, 2017, which also explained the second charge by explaining that Rangers did not observe the rules that: “All members shall:- (a) observe the principles of loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship in accordance with the rules of fair play; (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 Protocol, a committee or sub-committee, FIFA, UEFA or the Court of Arbitration for Sport; (f) behave towards the Scottish FA and other members with the utmost good faith.”
Sanctions available for the latter breach range from a £1,000 fine up to “£5,000,000 and/or ejection from the Scottish Cup and/or exclusion from the Scottish Cup and/or any player registration restrictions and/or suspension and/or termination of membership and/or any sanction or disposal not expressly provided above”.
Rangers immediately argued that the SFA, as a result of the secret Five-Way Agreement they and the SPFL signed in 2012 following the descent into liquidation of the old club, had no jurisdiction in this case and that the matter could only be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland, an opinion upheld by the SFA’s own judicial panel in June, 2018. Since then, nothing.
When I pressed him on the matter in June of last year, SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell said: “I would expect that to come back to the board in the not too distant future.
“It [going to CAS] is still under consideration. We’ll come back on that in due course. I wouldn’t want to put a timescale on it . . . but I don’t think we would let it go for ever.”
We asked the SFA on Tuesday whether a decision had been arrived at concerning the next step in this procedure. They said they would get back to us but there has yet to be a response from them.
Alastair Johnston, a director of Rangers International Football Club, this week gave an interview in which he taunted Celtic supporters who claim that the current Rangers is a separate entity from the club which imploded in 2012.
“You know what?” he asked. “If that was the end of Rangers and Celtic and if that was the end of the big game that started in 1888 [the first Old Firm meeting] all the way to 2012 – we won that game.
“The way you determine it by the number of times (54) we won the top division. We were ahead in February, 2012 and in head-to-head victories, we were ahead of Celtic in 2012.
“So if you wanted to say the old Rangers of 1872 died – we beat you 2-0 and when the game started again in 2012, it will be 120 years or so before you can tie with us.”
Mr Johnston was removed from the board at Ibrox by Whyte in 2011, but not before he declared in the club’s interim accounts that year that the Wee Tax Bill was a “potential” liability rather than an actual, overdue one.
It’s understood that it is his signature which appears on the UEFA application which the SFA now believes was consequently awarded in error. Curiously, though, they seem reluctant to proceed with their charges.
