UEFA Club Licensing. – To Comply or not to Comply ?
On 16 April 2018 The UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) adjudicatory chamber took decisions in the cases of four clubs that had been referred to it by the CFCB chief investigator, concerning the non-fulfilment of the club licensing criteria defined in the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations.
Such criteria must be complied with by the clubs in order to be granted the licence required to enter the UEFA club competitions.
The cases of two clubs::
Olympique des Alpes SA (Sion Switzerland )
and
FC Irtysh (Kazakhstan)
are of particular interest to those following the events under which the SFA awarded a UEFA License to Rangers FC in 2011 currently under investigation by the SFA Compliance Officer because
- The case documentation tell us how UEFA wish national associations to apply UEFA FFP rules
- The cases tell us what might have happened to Rangers FC in 2012 had they not gone into liquidation and as a consequence avoided the same type of sanctions that UEFA applied to Sion and Irtysh.
FC Sion (Olympique des Alpes SA)
Here we are told how the Swiss FL and then the UEFA CFCB acted in respect of FC Sion in 2017 where a misleading statement was made in the Sion UEFA licensing application.
Full details can be read at
but this is a summary.
In April 2017 the Swiss FL (SFL) granted a licence to Sion FC but indicated that a Disciplinary case was pending.
In July 2017 the CFCB, as part of their licence auditing programme, carried out a compliance audit on 3 clubs to determine if licences had been properly awarded. Sion was one of those clubs.
The subsequent audit by Deloitte LLP discovered Sion had an overdue payable on a player, amounting to €950,000, owed to another football club (FC Sochaux ) at 31st March 2017 as a result of a transfer undertaken by Sion before 31st December 2016, although the €950,000 was paid in early June 2017.
Deloitte produced a draft report of their findings that was passed to SFL and Sion for comment on factual accuracy and comment on the findings. Sion responded quickly enabling Deloitte to present a final report to the CFCB Investigation Unit. In response to the Deloitte final report Sion stated:
“il apparaît aujourd’hui qu’il existait bel et bien un engagement impayé découlant d’une activité de transfert. Ce point est admis” translated as
“it now appears that there was indeed an outstanding commitment arising from transfer activity. This is admitted”
What emerged as the investigation proceeded was that the Swiss FL Licensing Committee, after granting the license in April and as a result of a Sochaux complaint of non-payment to FIFA, had reason to refer Sion’s application to their Disciplinary Commission in May 2017 with regard to the submission of potentially misleading information by FC Sion to the SFL on 7th April 2017 as part of its licensing documentation.
Sion had declared
“Written confirmation: no overdue payables arising from transfer activities”, signed by the Club’s president, stating that as at 31 March 2017 there were no overdue payables towards other football clubs. In particular, the Club indicated that the case between FC Sion and FC Sochaux regarding the transfer of the player Ishmael Yartey was still under dispute.
The SFL Disciplinary Commission came to the conclusion that FC Sion had no intention to mislead the SFL, but indeed submitted some incorrect licensing documentation; the SFL Disciplinary Commission further confirmed that the total amount of €950,000 had been paid by the Club to FC Sochaux on 7 June 2017. Because of the inaccurate information submitted, the SFL Disciplinary Commission decided to impose a fine of CHF 8,000 on the Club.
Whilst this satisfied the SFL Disciplinary process the CFCB deemed it not enough to justify the granting of the licence as UEFA intended their FFP rules to be applied.
Sion provided the CFCB with a number of reasons on the basis of which no sanction should be imposed. In particular, the Club admitted that there was an overdue payable as at 31 March 2017, but stated that the mistake in the document dated 7 April 2017 was the result of a misinterpretation by the club’s responsible person for dealing with the licence (the “Club’s licence manager”), who is not a lawyer. The Club affirmed that it never had the intention to conceal the information and had provisioned the amount due for payment and that, in any case, it has already been sanctioned by the SFL for providing the wrong information.
The CFCB Investigation Unit accepted that the Sion application, although inaccurate, was a one off misrepresentation and not a forgery, (as in intended to deceive ) but that nevertheless an overdue payable did exist at 31st March and a licence should not have been granted.
Based on their findings, the CFCB Chief Investigator decided to refer the case to the CFCB Adjudicatory Chamber and suggested a disciplinary measure to be imposed on FC Sion by the CFCB Adjudicatory Chamber, such measure consisting of a fine of €235,000, corresponding to the UEFA Revenues the Club gained by participating in the 2017/2018 UEFA Europa League.
The CFCB Investigatory Chamber submitted that it was appropriate to impose a fine corresponding to all the UEFA revenues the Club gained by participating in the competition considering the fact that FC Sion should not have been admitted to the competition for failing to meet one of its admission criteria.
The Adjudicatory Chambers took all the circumstances (see paras 91 to 120 at http://tiny.cc/i8sxsy ) into consideration and reached the following key decisions.
- FC Sion failed to satisfy the requirements of Article 49(1) of the CL&FFP Regulations and it obtained the licence issued by the SFL not in accordance with the CL&FFP Regulations.
- FC Sion breached Articles 13(1) and 43(1)(i) of the CL&FFP Regulations. (Documents complete and correct)
- To exclude FC Sion from participating in the next UEFA club competition for which it would otherwise qualify in the next two (2) seasons (i.e. the 2018/19 and 2019/20).
- To impose a fine of two hundred and thirty five thousand Euros (€235,000) on FC Sion.
- FC Sion is to pay three thousand Euros (€3,000) towards the costs of these proceedings.
Comment in respect of the award of a UEFA Licence in 2011 to Rangers FC.
It is now public knowledge that an actual liability of tax due before 31stDecember 2010 towards HMRC, was admitted by Rangers FC before 31st March 2011.
This liability was described as “potential” in Rangers Interim accounts audited by Grant Thornton.
“Note 1: The exceptional item reflects a provision for a potential tax liability in relation to a Discounted Option Scheme associated with player contributions between 1999 and 2003. A provision for interest of £0.9m has also been included within the interest charge.”
The English Oxford Dictionary definition of potential is:
Having or showing the capacity to develop into something in the future.
Which was not true as the liability had already been “developed” so could not be potential.
This was repeated by Chairman Alistair Johnson in his covering Interim Accounts statement
“The exceptional item reflects a provision for a potential tax liability in relation to a Discounted Option Scheme associated with player contributions between 1999 and 2003. “ where he also added
“Discussions are continuing with HMRC to establish a resolution to the assessments raised.”
This could be taken as disputing the liability but In fact the resolution to the assessments raised would have been payment of the actual liability, something that never happened.
In the Sion case it was accepted the misleading statement was a one off misrepresentation, but at the monitoring stages at June 2011 in Ranger’s case the status of the liability continued to be misrepresented and in September the continuing discussions reason was repeated, along with a claim of an instalment paid whose veracity is highly questionable.
The Swiss FL Licensing Committee did at least refer the case to their Disciplinary Committee when they realised a misleading statement might have been made. The SFA however in August 2011, when Sherriff Officers called at Ibrox for payment of the overdue tax , did no such thing and pulled up the drawbridge for six years, one that the Compliance Officer is now finally charged with lowering.
The case of FC Irtysh of Kazakhstan is set out in full at http://tiny.cc/y9sxsy and is a bit more straightforward but is nevertheless useful to compare with events in 2011 in Scotland.
Unlike Rangers FC , FC Irtysh properly disclosed that they had an overdue payable to the Kazakhstan tax authorities at the monitoring point at 30th June 2017. This caused the CFCB Investigatory Unit to seek further information with regard to the position at 31st March
It transpired that Irtysh had declared an overdue payable at 31st March but cited their financial position (awaiting sponsor money) as a reason for non payment to the Kazakhstan FA who accepted it and granted the licence. The outstanding tax was paid in September 2107.
The outcome of the CFCB Investigation was a case put to the CFCB Adjudicatory Chamber who agreed with the CFCB Investigation Unit that a licence should not have been granted and recommended that Irtysh be fined the equivalent of the UEFA prize money, (that had been withheld in any case whilst CFCB investigated.)
The CFCB Adjudicatory Chamber however decided that a fine was not sufficient in sporting deterrent terms and ruled that:
- FC Irtysh failed to satisfy the requirements of Article 50bis(1) of the CL&FFP Regulations and it obtained the licence issued by the FFK not in accordance with the CL&FFP Regulations.
- To withhold four hundred and forty thousand Euros (€440,000) corresponding to the UEFA revenues FC Irtysh gained by participating in the 2017/2018 UEFA Europa League.
- To exclude FC Irtysh from participating in the next UEFA club competition for which it would otherwise qualify in the next three (3) seasons (i.e. the 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons). This sanction is deferred for a probationary period of (3) three years. This exclusion must be enforced in case the Club participates again in a UEFA club competition having not fulfilled the licence criteria required to obtain the UEFA licence in accordance with the CL&FFP Regulations.
- FC Irtysh is to pay three thousand Euros (€3,000) towards the costs of these proceedings. “
The deferral was because unlike Rangers FC, FC Irtysh had properly disclosed to the licensor the correct & accurate financial information required, so the exclusion was deferred for a probationary period of (3) years.
Comment in respect of the award of a UEFA Licence in 2011 to Rangers FC.
From the foregoing it could be deduced that had Rangers FC qualified for the Champions League (or European League) and not gone bust as a result and so not entered liquidation BUT it became public knowledge by 2012 that a licence had been wrongly and possibly fraudulently granted then
- Rangers would have been fined the equivalent of their earnings from their participation in the UEFA competitions in 2011
- At least a two year ban from UEFA Competitions would have been imposed, but more likely three in view of repeated incorrect statements.
- The consequences of both would have been as damaging for Rangers survival as the real life consequences of losing to Malmo and Maribor in the qualifying rounds of the Champions and European Leagues.
Karma eh!
Interestingly in the UEFA COMPLIANCE AND INVESTIGATION ACTIVITY REPORT 2015 – 2017 , the CFCB investigatory chamber recommended that both the Kazakhstan FA and Swiss FA as licensors
“pay particular attention to the adequate disclosure of the outstanding amounts payable towards other football clubs, in respect of employees and towards social/tax authorities, which must be disclosed separately;
Would the same recommendation apply to the Scottish FA with regard to their performance in 2011 and will the SFA responses thereafter to shareholders in a member club be examined for compliance with best governance practice by the SFA Compliance Officer investigating the processing of the UEFA Licence in 2011?
This would be a welcome step in fully restoring trust in the SFA.
Any truth in the rumour, (started by myself), that Morelos has signed for a Turkish club, for a 3in1 kebab, (with salad & sauce included), a Turkish Delight and a Curly Wurly?
Or Mibbees it was for £15M ?
AllyjamboMay 19, 2018 at 21:44Don’t you mean you keep drinking doubles and trebles? *hic*
It’s OK, A’ll getma coat
I drink a toast to you’re honesty this season and all seasons to see the game palyed in the spirit it was meant to be played and your endeavours to put right those who wish to deviate from the truth to the benefit of one club, and keep putting us two steps backwards.
May those who live truly be always believed,
And those who deceive us be always deceived.
Here’s to the men of all classes,
Who through lasses and glasses
Will make themselves asses!
I drink to the health of another,
And the other I drink to is heIn the hope that he drinks to another,
And the other he drinks to is me.
SLIM JIM @22.09
Yet again, it’s all ‘he said, she said..’ from you.
A judge reading out a term used by the defence during the Appeal, that’s all it was I’m afraid. If you want to prove your case, you need real evidence, not stuff like this.
The only problem being, of course, is that there isn’t any.
People talking to themselves on here now?
I think Level 5 are paying overtime tonight folks. The plan from last month has gone a bit Pete Tong I think.
slimjimMay 19, 2018 at 22:09
‘..in RFC2012PLC The FORMER owners of The Rangers Football Club.Highest court in the land..’
_________________
Dear Lord!
RFC 2012 plc was not the ‘former owners’ of Rangers Football Club. It was Rangers football club of 1872/ 99!
There was no other legal entity which signed the contracts with players, gave concessions to pie sellers or scarf/shirt manufacturers or paid the electricity bills and Council rates and contracted with face-painters or roofing contractors, and so on.
There was only Rangers Football Club plc.
And it was the tax dodging of that club, that football club, the legal entity that had used EBTs to cheat the taxman ,that was the subject of the Supreme Court’s judgment.
You appear to have no understanding that the Supreme Court was not at all interested in anything other than the question of whether HMRC were legally right in deeming that the EBT scheme as used by RFC plc/now known as RFC 2012 plc was not permissible under the relevant tax laws.
They were not deliberating on any other question, and indeed would have nothing to say on any other question, other than the legal question before them about EBTs being remuneration.
This ridiculous citing of ‘authorities’ like the SFA, and the Courts, and the DR to ‘prove’ that TRFC ltd are the Rangers of my grandfather’s day are indicative of minds that are so locked in the defence of an untruth as not to be worth engaging with intellectually.
However, it is necessary for us to engage in order that the Truth might consistently, and however quietly and non-aggressively, be asserted.
Rangers football Club of the lads of Glasgow green is dead. A new football club was created.
Good Morning.
‘Disgraced former UEFA president Michel Platini admits draw for 1998 World Cup was designed to make France-Brazil final possible’.
BIG PINKMAY 20, 2018 at 00:29(EDIT)
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I think Level 5 are paying overtime tonight folks. The plan from last month has gone a bit Pete Tong I think.
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It’s almost as if their statement after being charged by SFA had been written by one of our recent and frequent posters!
Some great posts in defence of the truth over the last couple of days. Thanks to JC for keeping us up-to-date with proceedings. Thanks to AJ, JC, Corrupt Official, BigBoab, Hirsutepursuit, ClusterOne, BarcaBuoy, Homunculus, Auldheid et al for putting the would-be Petrocelli back in his box – he’s no lawman! He is getting very tedious though and making it very difficult to keep up to date with posts – we seem to have gone from 14 to 27 pages of comment (most on the same topic – already established many times) in a very short space of time. Big Pink is right enough is enough!
I know we tend not to talk about specific football matches on here, and I really don’t want to change that now. So please forgive me but can I make one comment and ask one question about yesterday’s final and the BBC coverage.
1, I thought the referee had a very good game, tried to let the players play and only got involved when he had to.
2, Does anyone know if Alex McLeish has paid the tax on his disguised remuneration package yet. I believe he got £1.7m and the tax would have been about £850,000.
I noticed that wee shifty looking guy was in the SFA Concert Party yesterday when they were handing out the medals. he’s got something to do with Cove Rangers. No harm to them, but I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him. I think he was the one who made a balls up of the cup draw last year.
There’s something not right about that SFA lot. Don’t know what it is but they all look shifty.
All this nonsense sevco 2012 fans spout about Uefa saying their the same club was put to bed last year when sevco 2012 were given a license to compete in the uefa cup
CWs ragers 1872 owed over £9m in PAYE /NIC a bill that has NEVER been paid .
So if the same club they would not have been allowed to compete END OF
deep down THEY know it ,WE know it and THEY know the WE know it .
JIMBO
MAY 20, 2018 at 10:15
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I suspect you mean Alan McRae, the president of the SFA.
It was their final yesterday so it makes sense him being there.
He took over from Campbell Ogilvie. His EBT was only enough for a decent night out. £95k as I recall.
Does anyone know if he has paid the tax on that yet.
Happy 125th birthday Dundee FC! The club was founded on this day, 20th May 1893.
In recent years, after entering and exiting administration twice, I’m grateful that I can still support the club that I followed as schoolboy. I knew that failure to exit administration each time would be the death of the club and nothing could be done to resurrect it in a new form.
Unlike some of my fellow supporters, I hold no animosity towards the tangerine supporting half of the city, just a friendly desire to be top dog in the City of Discovery. I hope that they can get their own house in order and return to competing in Dundee derbies for years to come.
FANOFFOOTBALL MAY 20 10.19
If that’s the case then please explain the 10 year club coefficients rankings from UEFA released in February of 2018.
https://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/revenue/index.html
Note number 151 complete with pre-2012 points and including a bonus for the 1972 ECWC victory.
Congratulations Melbournedee.
Used to love going to Dundee. My firms head office was on the Kingsway, so I had many overnights. Great memories. Sometimes we went to Broughty Ferry and Monifieth.
SLIMJIM
MAY 20, 2018 at 10:55
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Here’s a thought, you explain to me how the SFA membership was transferred from one club to the same club.
Or why the same club was not seeded in the SFA’s own tournament the following season, after having finished second place in the league.
Or why the same club had to apply to join the SPL, then when it failed the SFL.
SLIMJIM
MAY 20, 2018 at 10:55
—————————————-
Is that the list where Unirea Urziceni is at no.215?
The team that was ‘dissolved’ in 2011 & didn’t exist in any form between 2011 & 2015 & now plays in a regional league? The team that had to sell most of its players to pay outstanding debts in 2010/11? The team that played RFC in the Group Stages of the Champions League in 2009/10, gaining 10,000 now-meaningless co-efficient points?
Homulcus 20/05/18 @ 10:00hrs
2, Does anyone know if Alex McLeish has paid the tax on his disguised remuneration package yet. I believe he got £1.7m and the tax would have been about £850,000
======================
Apparently Barry Ferguson was moaning the other day that a lot of his ex-team mates are getting a hard time from HMRC, so I guess McLeish will be as well. If only they had just transferred all their wealth to their wives like Barry did then go bankrupt and give two fingers to HMRC. Meanwhile the BBC continues to use public funds to finance Ferguson and many others who stole from the taxman.
UPTHEHOOPS
Apparently Barry Ferguson was moaning the other day that a lot of his ex-team mates are getting a hard time from HMRC, so I guess McLeish will be as well. If only they had just transferred all their wealth to their wives like Barry did then go bankrupt and give two fingers to HMRC. Meanwhile the BBC continues to use public funds to finance Ferguson and many others who stole from the taxman.
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Clearly the others didn’t have advisers who were good enough to recommend gratuitous alienation.
SLIMJIMMAY 20, 2018 at 10:55
FANOFFOOTBALL MAY 20 10.19If that’s the case then please explain the 10 year club coefficients rankings from UEFA released in February of 2018.https://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/revenue/index.htmlNote number 151 complete with pre-2012 points and including a bonus for the 1972 ECWC victory.
___________
I think that is more an example of how much certain departments of UEFA rely on information passed to them by the various FAs, rather than an indication of how UEFA view the liquidation of a football club. It is also, sadly, an indication of their disinterest in what goes on at the lower end of the the European football spectrum. I’m sure if Rangers had accumulated enough points to gain automatic entry to European competition proper, some club’s likely to miss out as a result would have been banging on UEFA’s door before TRFC ever kicked a ball in Europe, and that UEFA would have agreed they were a new club. As the accumulated points they have inherited have no bearing on their qualification, no one outside of Scotland gives a toss.
Seeing as you’re looking for us to counter one of your points, isn’t it about time you tried to discredit some, even one, of the many points raised this weekend that either discredit your, and your fellow bear’s, claims, or have a direct bearing on the OC/NC debate, itself.
You might like to discredit this one, though it’s up to you if you want to choose something else.
If Sevco (Scotland) Limited, after having bought the assets of Rangers FC (IL), had not changed it’s name to The Rangers Football Club Limited, there would be no version of a ‘Rangers’ playing in the SPFL, or at Ibrox, now.
Had to laugh at this.
https://celtsarehere.com/get-this-rat-out-now-gers-fans-rage-as-ibrox-star-seen-in-celtic-end/
HOMUNCULUSMAY 20, 2018 at 11:49
UPTHEHOOPS
Apparently Barry Ferguson was moaning the other day that a lot of his ex-team mates are getting a hard time from HMRC, so I guess McLeish will be as well. If only they had just transferred all their wealth to their wives like Barry did then go bankrupt and give two fingers to HMRC. Meanwhile the BBC continues to use public funds to finance Ferguson and many others who stole from the taxman. ====================================
Clearly the others didn’t have advisers who were good enough to recommend gratuitous alienation.
__________
Most probably couldn’t have afforded that level of advice, Homunculus. Not many got as generous an EBT as that realest of Real Rangers Men, Barry Ferguson. He’d have played for the badge for nuffin’, didn’t you know?
HOMUNCULUSMAY 20, 2018 at 11:49
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UPTHEHOOPS
******
I’m probably mistaken, but I thought that HMRC didn’t accept the transfer of assets to a spouse to avoid tax liabilities.
UPTHEHOOPS
“Apparently Barry Ferguson was moaning the other day that a lot of his ex-team mates are getting a hard time from HMRC, so I guess McLeish will be as well. If only they had just transferred all their wealth to their wives like Barry did then go bankrupt and give two fingers to HMRC. Meanwhile the BBC continues to use public funds to finance Ferguson and many others who stole from the taxman.”
The irony is the transfer of his money was to cheat the taxman again of money Berry gained whilst cheating and the BBC think punters will listen to his rhetoric and believe him. What is worse
1. cheating and been caught and paying up
or
2. been caught cheating and cheat again so you do not pay up.
I am sure the public would like to thank Barry for not contributing his share to the purse to support our heroes when they faced danger and needed the revenue most, to have financial resources to purchase proper equipment to keep them safe.
The spirit of RRM, Aye Ready, to lie and decieve at any cost.
JINGSO.JIMSIEMAY 20, 2018 at 11:19
SLIMJIM
MAY20, 2018 at 10:55
Fiorentina also on there. Think when UEFA do an article on rangers it will be similar to FIFA.
‘….club consigned to liquidation’.
Fiorentina whole againAC Fiorentina have bought back the rights to use their name and traditional purple shirts.Published: Thursday 15 May 2003, 15.25CET
Italian football welcomed back an old friend today after Diego Della Valle, owner of Florentia Viola, bought back the club’s former name, AC Fiorentina.
Traditional purpleFrom next season the Florence club will be called Fiorentina again and will wear their traditional purple shirts after Della Valle bought the rights to both at a cost of €2.5m at an auction of all the property owned by the club at the time of their bankruptcy last summer.
http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/news/newsid=69457.html
THOMTHETHIMMAY 20, 2018 at 12:15
I’m probably mistaken, but I thought that HMRC didn’t accept the transfer of assets to a spouse to avoid tax liabilities.
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My understanding is as long as it was done a number of years previously (at least seven?), then it is allowed. Ferguson’s advisers clearly knew there was a chance of it coming back to bite him in the future. I believe he drives a £100k car. The entire thing is morally corrupt. Meanwhile honest working people on PAYE don’t have these choices. No-one should mind you.
One of my all-time sporting heroes is fellow jambo and cycling legend, Sir Chris Hoy.
If Sir Chris unfortunately fell on hard times in the future and decided to sell his ‘history’ to me, perhaps even including his Olympic gold medals, to all intents and purposes I would be the new owner of the history and honours of Sir Chris Hoy.
However, I never won anything, in the same way that the new club playing out of Ibrox never won any of the 54 titles or other honours it wrongly claims to have won, not least because it never even existed when they were competed for.
Trade marks and names are bought regularly and companies trade using the history attaching to those trade marks.
This is often used as a marketing ploy using the cachet attached to that history, for example there are numerous watch mamufacturers using old dead company names to sell their, often inferior to the original, products.
No matter how clever the marketing however the liquidated company remains dead an all that the trade mark owner has has the right to use the name and history, the are not and cannot be the original company.
To rely on such a process to claim that my Club was the original and not something crudely moulded from the ashes by a freelance chancer seems to me to be ludicrous and to insist on others accepting it worse.
Apparently I can order a freshly painted copy of a painting from Chinese workshops, it will look the same as the original be the same size as the original use similar materials as the original but it won’t be and for me to claim that it was the original resurrected would belittle my own dignity and that of those who hear my claim
The dignified and realistic option is to accept the truth not truth claims from chancers criminals and unprincipled PR men.
ps
Homunculus – the dark side came originally from beyond the pale and the other from within. That is why I am allowed to follow both Leinster and Munster Rugby teams and claim each as my own albeit having a preference for Munster for their traditional forward pack and methods.
The story of Fiorentina makes entertaining reading for those of us who condemn the chancers of both RFC(IL) and RIFC plc/Trfc Ltd.
There are some parallels.But as far as I know there is no mirrored wall in the Blue Room
This from https://thesefootballtimes.co/2016/03/02/the-painful-death-of-ac-fiorentina/
“In June 2001, the money, or lack of it, finally caught up with Fiorentina. The club revealed its $50 million debt, failing to pay its players’ wages and entering administration, forcing them to sell most of their starting 11. As a result, La Viola were relegated to Serie B in 2002 and forced to file for bankruptcy. However, because of the severity of the bankruptcy, and Cecchi Gori’s failure to secure the necessary capital, they were refused a spot in the league and liquidated, effectively ceasing to exist by July.A year prior to Fiorentina’s brief extinction in July 2002, Cecchi Gori found himself in his own catastrophe. After the club’s financial troubles were made public earlier in the summer of 2001, he came under investigation for abetting money laundering by Rome’s public prosecutor’s office. On July 5, police raided Cecchi Gori’s home in Rome’s ultra wealthy Palazzo Borghese. After an hour-and-a-half of searching, they found Cecchi Gori asleep with his girlfriend, model Valeria Marini, behind a mirrored wall that doubled as the concealed entrance to his bedroom. Upon searching the secret room for financial documents, authorities found a pile of cocaine stashed away in a safe.“Cocaine? That’s not cocaine, it’s saffron,” a red-handed Cecchi Gori famously said.
Money laundering and narcotics possession wasn’t the dagger in the hearts of Fiorentina fans. No, the real blow came two months after his club declared bankruptcy, when Vittorio Cecchi Gori was placed under house arrest in connection with his newest charges: embezzlement and fraudulent bankruptcy in relation to AC Fiorentina.In 2006, Cecchi Gori was found guilty of illegally withdrawing $32 million from AC Fiorentina and funneling it into his holding company, Finmavi, to help support his other business interests. In the end, Fiorentina’s greatest proprietor, responsible for funding the beautiful football played in the club’s finest hour of the modern game, would become their greatest detractor.
In August 2002, after AC Fiorentina was liquidated, a new club was founded in its place. Associazione Calcio Fiorentina e Florentia Viola, or Florentia Viola for short, was granted a place in Serie C2, Italy’s fourth tier, under current owner and leather mogul Diego Della Valle. In 2003, Della Valle bought the rights to Fiorentina’s old name and badge and it became the club we know today, ACF Fiorentina.The story of AC Fiorentina is one of calcio’s most tragic. For all the trouble and humiliation caused by Vittorio Cecchi Gori’s unscrupulous rein, the team never finished higher in Serie A than their third place finish in 1999. Their tragedy stands out alongside the likes of Leeds United, Portsmouth and many other stories of financial failure in football.Their stories, however, are ones of complacency; Fiorentina’s is one of corruption, an apothegm from a time before Financial Fair Play and strict monetary regulations, when moguls could aimlessly pump clubs full of money, toying with the hearts of fans everywhere.By Angelo Sylvester @Asylvester1J
bfbpuzzledMay 20, 2018 at 14:19
‘.. I can order a freshly painted copy of a painting from Chinese workshops, it will look the same as the original be the same size as the original use similar materials as the original but it won’t be and for me to claim that it was the original ‘..
____________________
Would probably see you getting done for fraud!
And I personally cannot accept that it is right for new club to market itself as being a quite other, much older and more well know club that currently lies in Liquidation, its capacity to compete in Scottish Football gone, and with that, the opportunity of adding to its honestly earned sporting successes.
On the face of it, TRFC Ltd is your replica painting, and money is being made out of what I believe is the pretence that it is the original.
UPTHEHOOPS
MAY 20, 2018 at 13:13
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Section 98 of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act discusses gratuitous alienation.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2016/21/section/98
ARMCHAIRSUPPORTER
MAY 20, 2018 at 13:41
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The administrators originally agreed to sell the assets to Sevco 5088, this was irrevocable apparently.
They then sold them to Sevco Scotland.
So it would seem that whoever bought Ibrox stadium became Rangers.
No updates on the Stevie Charade today then?. Level 5 must have the weekend off. (apologies for the pun but I’m quite pleased with it.
When typing the above, I inadvertently missed the crucial point <doh>.
If pre-liquidation and post-liquidation Rangers* are the same club, why would the latter have to buy ‘history’, or indeed anything else, from the former? Why would a club purchase something from itself? Can you even purchase something from yourself?
It’s just yet another example of the participants in the Five Way Agreement starting from the flawed premise that Rangers* must be preserved at all costs, but those pesky facts getting in the way and the whole deception unravelling, making a group of conniving men look foolish as well as corrupt.
HomunculusMay 20, 2018 at 15:02
‘…The administrators originally agreed to sell the assets to Sevco 5088, this was irrevocable apparently. ‘
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Did I miss whatever the explanation was for the ‘novation’?
I wish I had recorded the half-drunk-sounding CG’s telephone call to CW, reassuring him that he, Whyte, was Sevco.
I did so hope that someone was going to go to jail, but it all kind of fizzled out.
The only remaining bit of Sevco 5088s claims being Henderson&Jones claim v the Liquidators,BDO, about which there appears to be nothing since the last time there was court action.
SHUG
MAY 20, 2018 at 12:05
Had to laugh at this.
https://celtsarehere.com/get-this-rat-out-now-gers-fans-rage-as-ibrox-star-seen-in-celtic-end/
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It appears that it’s not funny anymore, with threats of physical harm etc. being made against O’Halloran.
EX LUDO
MAY 20, 2018 at 15:04
No updates on the Stevie Charade today then?. Level 5 must have the weekend off. (apologies for the pun but I’m quite pleased with it.
———————————————-
They seem to be working fairly hard: stories about Morelos going on loan to Besitkas (wasn’t he an eight-figure asset a few weeks ago?), Kyle Bartley being purchased for £2.5m & former Prime Minister, Harold Wilson being signed from his Liverpool constituency of Huyton. (Actually, that last one is Liverpool youngster Harry Wilson possibly going to Ibrox, not the late PM.) Up to eleven players to be let go/transferred out to fund the warchest…
The best for me is, of course, that Joey Barton shows how much he dislikes Scott Arfield by recommending he sign for TRFC. That is a belter…
armchairsupporterMay 20, 2018 at 13:41
Maybe one for AJ to answer? How does it work buying the history and honours of a dead club? Could other clubs have bid for these? Should the administrators have sold them to the highest bidder to get more for creditors? (May have been liquidators by this time?) Could a distressed club sell its honours and history in order to raise cash and avoid liquidation?
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There is a train of thought (not quite accurate, of course) pushed by the English and the Scots Yoons that England saved Scotland from bankruptcy, and hence came about the Union of the Parliaments. It could be claimed from that that England ‘bought’ Scotland, but even they don’t claim our history. They can’t claim to have won the Battle of Bannockburn, nor Killiecrankie or Prestonpans, and they stole the Stone of Destiny, so it was never theirs to hold. History quite simply cannot be bought, so no is the answer to your question, and the titles won by Rangers, both fairly and by cheating, will forever be the property of the defunct club, unless justice is served and the tainted titles removed.
Had a look on JohnJames site. For the first time in a while.
At least he doesn’t now pretend to be a Rangers supporter these days.
He may as well finish his articles with Hail Hail he’s that pro Celtic these days
Not a bad game yesterday although I think Celtic had a few gears to go up if needed.
Can’t really see this run of trophies ending unless Celtic get drawn at Easter road/tynecastle* in the early rounds of a cup.
*I didn’t say pittodrie as they seem to enjoy it there
Sergio Biscuits
May 19, 2018 at 23:15
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SLIM JIM @22.09
“If you want to prove your case, you need real evidence,”
Like here
https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2016-0073.html
And in his excitement he missed this, (see attachment)
Well done Ferranti Thistle.
Well they are the same club after all, are they not?
Can’t help but notice The BBC website claiming they were ALMOST liquidated and subsequently demoted too!
JOHN CLARKMAY 20, 2018 at 15:14
Did I miss whatever the explanation was for the ‘novation’?I wish I had recorded the half-drunk-sounding CG’s telephone call to CW, reassuring him that he, Whyte, was Sevco.
———————-
I have that on disc. And now i have it written down in front of me to go dig it out at some point this week.
Well done , Livvy – you’re turn for a wee adventure . Maybe we’ll win some games next season !
Let Faither have the last word:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEkbSD56hlY
WOODSTEIN
MAY 20, 2018 at 18:32
=========================================
Chris Fury Graham agrees.
As did the Rangers Fans Fighting Fund
Here’s what the BBC said in a Q&A
What if the application to transfer the SPL share fails?
If the SPL rejects the share transfer, the new club could then make an application to join the Scottish Football League. If successful, it would then apply for SFA membership. The new club can only apply for SFA membership when it has a competition to participate in. An opening would arise in the SFL if a club is promoted from the First Division to replace Rangers in the top flight.
All applications to the SFA are assessed on their merits. However, the SFA say any sanctions placed upon the oldco would be taken into consideration to act as a deterrent to other clubs following the same route. Additionally, the new club will not be able to participate in European competition for three years.
PADDY MALARKEYMAY 20, 2018 at 18:32
Well done , Livvy – you’re turn for a wee adventure . Maybe we’ll win some games next season !
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I expected a bit more from the Jags Paddy. They went out with a bit of a whimper. Hope they come back up next year.
CLUSTER ONEYour comment is awaiting moderation.
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SLIMJIMMAY 20, 2018 at 10:55
then please explain the 10 year club coefficients rankings from UEFA released in February of 2018
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If comment does not pass moderation look for AULDHEIDMARCH 7, 2018 at 02:24
Professionalism helps you land your business on its feet safely.
Do you know why JJ calls me a Jesus Freak?
Cause I love Him.
And He’s a Celtic supporter. FACT.
There they’re there ! Sorry
JINGSO.JIMSIEMAY 20, 2018 at 15:33
11
1 Rate This
EX LUDO
MAY 20, 2018 at 15:04
No updates on the Stevie Charade today then?. Level 5 must have the weekend off. (apologies for the pun but I’m quite pleased with it.———————————————-
They seem to be working fairly hard: stories about Morelos going on loan to Besitkas (wasn’t he an eight-figure asset a few weeks ago?), Kyle Bartley being purchased for £2.5m & former Prime Minister, Harold Wilson being signed from his Liverpool constituency of Huyton. (Actually, that last one is Liverpool youngster Harry Wilson possibly going to Ibrox, not the late PM.) Up to eleven players to be let go/transferred out to fund the warchest…
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Jermain Defoe.
Lucas Leiva.
John McGinn.
And the best so far Wayne Rooney.
UPTHEHOOPSMAY 20, 2018 at 19:01
Echoing my thoughts , though I wouldn’t be too stressed if we spend an extra year getting things in shape . Then mibbes emulate the wee teams coming up and finishing third !
I’m not happy that Livi are going to install a plastic pitch. Should be barred.
Anyways this is for everyone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqSjIQBtuVY
Comment on To Comply or not to Comply ? by jimbo.
Do you know why JJ calls me a Jesus Freak?
Cause I love Him.
And He’s a Celtic supporter. FACT.
_______________________________
What chance have the other teams got if Jesus himself is a Celtic supporter Jimbo
Rangers charged by SFA over 2011/12 UEFA licence issue. https://stv.tv/amp/1415110-rangers-charged-by-sfa-over-2011-12-uefa-licence-issue/?__twitter_impression=true
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A response from Rangers is due by May 22, with a principal hearing date set for June 26.
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https://rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/notice-of-complaint/
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Was this response the one that was due to The governing body. Or are we to expect another one by May 22 2018?
A few reminders on here tonight of what various people were saying just prior to Rangers CVA failure.
There were many more who said and wrote similar things, but strangely, I cannot remember one of them ever bothering to explain their change of heart. It was almost as though, for them, it had all just been a bad dream, and when they woke…
https://twitter.com/davekelly88/status/998258657635782657?s=21
Madonna and Lourdes watching the game at Ibrox nest season?
Perhaps I’m jumping the gun; or maybe I’m beginning to believe the Level 5 force multiplier that is the SMSN.
‘Bear’ with me here.
There has been mention of feeder clubs previously; Northern Spirit F.C. you’ll recall were once bought by a certain ‘oldco’ chairman as a conduit for importing Australia’s next best footballing talent. They went ‘down under’ in 2004 before a similar fate befell RFC (R.I.P)
Before this there were reports that Belgian side Beveren would ‘feed the bears’ (all due respect to big Roy).
Not sure what came of that, although a quick nod to google came up with an ‘incomer’ Roberto Giacomi. There’s note of another that went in the opposite direction; a certain Luigi Riccio. Apparently he made 1 appearance for the real RFC before he was shipped out to Beveren and then on to various Serie C sides in his native country.
Interestingly, Riccio is now assistant manager of a small time Italian outfit; AC Milan.
Ok, I’ve digressed, but google does this to you. As does a few IPA’s of a Sunday.
My point was; the SMSM are wetting themselves & ‘them’ over the possibility of Liverpool FC becoming the provenance of talent to overcome the abilities of McInnes, Lennon, Clarke and Rodgers. But we’ve all heard it before.
Now it would seem that the SMSM have missed an opportunity of force multiplication. Again.
Never has the ex ranger Luigi Riccio been mentioned in dispatches as a candidate for the ‘next manager’ of TRFC.
This post has taken took some unintended ‘twists and turns’.
Call it a testimony to the research that’s been at our fingertips well before May 2011; google is everyone’s friend.
But then, the SMSM have still to acquaint themselves with this. Despite billionaires and moonbeams.
Big Eck and now Martin O’Neill think a strong Rangers is needed
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44191963
Cluster OneMay 20, 2018 at 21:00
Rangers charged by SFA over 2011/12 UEFA licence issue. https://stv.tv/amp/1415110-rangers-charged-by-sfa-over-2011-12-uefa-licence-issue/?__twitter_impression=true———————A response from Rangers is due by May 22, with a principal hearing date set for June 26.————https://rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/notice-of-complaint/————-Was this response the one that was due to The governing body. Or are we to expect another one by May 22 2018?
_______________
I’d suggest that, if it was, it was not the kind of response the SFA were looking for, and was, at best, a knee jerk reaction, and in it’s tone, deserving of a separate charge from the SFA for the disrespect shown over a charge that was not just cobbled together within a couple of days. Of course, they do have that simple, and honest, response of, ‘it wisnae us!’
ALLYJAMBO
MAY 20, 2018 at 21:15
============================================
At least we know why Traynor had his epiphany.
Ain’t karma a bitch Mr Traynor?
“Some Rangers fans believe the club’s history, which would end with liquidation, must be protected but there is a shameful part of that history which they should want to forget and any newco should make it clear a new beginning means exactly that. A new club open to all from the very beginning.” Jim Traynor
“They’ll slip into liquidation within the next couple of weeks with a new company emerging but 140 years of history, triumph and tears, will have ended. No matter how Charles Green attempts to dress it up, a newco equals a new club. When the CVA was thrown out Rangers, as we know them died. They were closed and a newco must start from scratch.” Jim Traynor
“And I believe concern over the new club’s finances has prompted Brian Kennedy to make a £5.6million bid for a controlling interest.” Jim Traynor
“Green bought Rangers and their assets yesterday for £5.5million, just hours after Smith revealed he was spearheading a group to buy the new club.” Jim Traynor
“McCoist and Green are committed to opposing any move to have history books rewritten even though they accepted they had to begin again as a new concern after Rangers, the club with history, slipped into liquidation and closed. That should mean the titles aren’t really any of their business. But on the other hand, the SPL refused to hand over £2m, which should have gone to Rangers for finishing second last season, pointing out that the club no longer exists.” Jim Traynor
“(Whyte) also added: “What other country in the world would deal with one of their biggest clubs in the way they have and demote them to the Third Division.” Wrong again, Craig. Rangers had to go there because they were a new club starting over. Jim Traynor
HomunculusMay 20, 2018 at 21:33
Attachment
ALLYJAMBO MAY 20, 2018 at 21:15 ============================================
At least we know why Traynor had his epiphany.
__________________
Ah yes, I get it now, TRFC are not a new club because anybody who ever said they were lacks basic intelligence…So said a man who clearly lacks basic intelligence, or is it something more sinister?
ALLYJAMBO
not sinister mate,it’s pure and simple £££££££££££££
No correction or retraction of the RFC liquidation..
Did you know there are two Jimbos?
There is me and there is my alter ego.
There is the Jimbo who is a Jesus freak. Alongside billions of others who believe in our Lord and Saviour. But who loves so many others of other faiths or none. With no favouritism.
A Jimbo who is maudlin because he empathises with people who have depression. Is heartbroken when he hears of suicides.
Who loves to remember people and events from the past.
The Jimbo who loves Brass Bands. The working class movement from the 19th century which gave entry to a love of music for people with no or next to none money. To appreciate all the great masters of music. Did you know the famous trumpet piece at the beginning of Star Wars theme was by Maurice Murphy? He used to be principle cornet player with Black Dyke Mills Band?
Yes that Jimbo.
The same one who is innaproppriate for SFM. The one who believes Scottish Football has been taken for a ride for decades. That the people in suits at Hampden are mostly to blame. Those at the top of the marble staircase are at fault too but they are just crooks. Those at Hampden are ten times worse. It’s like a bent judge presiding over a murder charge and sentencing someone to death.
Anyway, that Jimbo stole my laptop, my pin numbers and pass words. Don’t believe anything he has said.
I’m back. Rangers lives on.
If there can be two Jim Traynors there can be two Jimbos.
I dedicate that tune to Jean, who comes on seldom, has little to say, but is profound.
Take care Jean.
Sorry Paddy, I finally decided I was supporting the Jags when I heard Livi are installing a plastic pitch. Hope you team are back up soon.
Was with my Jambo pals Andy & Dolinda yesterday, Andy is not keen on that Craig Levein chap, nor am I but I thought it was because I’m a Tim. He’s crazy we decided.
The jury is out on that laddie Gerrard. I would caution all you bears to wait and see. Remember you still have that idiot in charge of everything. Get rid!
StevieBC thought you would be out and about at this time of the night? I’m on my todd here. Twas a great day Saturday.
BILL1903MAY 20, 2018 at 21:24
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As always the devil is in the detail of exactly what O’Neill was asked. The quote below is from an interview yesterday with Brendan Rodgers, who handled it perfectly in my view.