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.
Testing
Test post.
Andy NewportVerified account @AndyNewportPA
Understand Rangers have now submitted an appeal against Alfredo Morelos’ Pittodrie red card. He faces an immediate two-match ban unless the decision is overturned
Things should be restored now. Maybe just a bit of browser cache-shedding and time 🙁
Post in moderation?
I seem to get an error “Please enter your comment” when first attempting a post.
The 10 minute edit time is an improvement.
Well I’m here, though don’t know how I managed it
I think I just pressed ‘refresh’ and crossed my fingers.
The new site still has the annoying “feature” of reverting back to the previous page after a post.
As mentioned in my previous post, I need to hit “Post Comment” twice before it is accepted.
There also appears to be an issue that on clicking the post comment button a ‘please enter your comment’ message appears in ewd print under the text box and although a 2nd click does post it isn’t intuitive that that is what is required
BP, I liked the 24 hour clock, it was less confusing when noting the time last visited, can we get it back? I now have to note, for example, 8.15 am or 8.15 pm rather than just 0815 or 2015.
Ok here
Famous last words!!
Your comment is awaiting moderation
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Sent you a DM BP.
Changing platforms is always troublesome.
Manchester Picadilly is a good example.
Test post. Hope it works, if it does can someone say if the avatars will come over automatically as well
Kirk to enterprise,beam me aboard
Ok just seen BPs post about the avatars will try work it out cheers
Test
Michael Stewart on BBC Sportsound really laying into Charlie Adam on the misuse of language by Gerrard in his post match interview. At last some honesty being broadcast.
It would appear that the Gerrard factor is real with regards people in England suddenly being more interested in Scottish football.
Matt Smith will be discussing Gerrard’s comments that the refs give Rangers nothing in Scotland on his show on Talksport tonight.
I wonder if they will consider how he knows this after one game, and what his previous knowledge of that alleged situation was just a few weeks ago. Or will they come to the reasonable conclusion that he is talking p!5h.
Statistics don’t always tell a full story, but those below make Gerrard’s (and whoever advised him) argument look rather weak.
Rangers red cards last 3 seasons: 11
Rangers opposition red cards last 3 seasons: 15
Rangers penalties awarded in last 3 seasons: 42
Rangers penalties conceded in last 3 seasons: 17
Dearie me, awaiting moderation. Hasn’t happened since the dark days when Big Pink and Tris sat me out on the naughty step
A few glitches to smooth out tonight folks. The double click thing for posting is first on the agenda.
Other comments/suggestions will be looked into asap
That’s me in ,I hope: I’m appallingly bad and incompetent and totally without understanding of these things!
do I tick the ‘yes’ box for ‘show notifications’?
My profile pic has not been transported across,lost in the ether?
Can I come in?
This BBC article includes probably the most honest words spoken by the media about Rangers/TRFC since the days when all the media accepted that Rangers had died. See if you can find them. Here’s a clue, Mikey Stewart said them.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45089480
Oh, I seem to be in! Hi, guys.
Just checking….
SFNASA 🙂
Michael Stewart : “When you look at the fact that Rangers in the top flight have never finished second, I think it’s slightly disrespectful to the teams, for example Aberdeen, who have been strong for a number of years.”
Oh dear…..
Scottish Football needs a dose of honesty. Thank you.
What have the Union Bears got against St Mirren. They seem to be getting a march together, for whatever reason. Well it starts at the the Louden, Maybe the Rangers SLO will know?
https://en-gb.facebook.com/Union-Bears-247987625238024/
Is that a bottle crashing? I love the sound of breaking glass . Testing , testing !
So I try the double ‘post comment’ and am told it’s a duplicate post . Last time I’m listening to JC on matters technical! ?
MercDoc
Re the union bears march. I think they just enjoy a good nature ramble.
test
So I'm in the pub with fans of the two cheeks and the consensus is that Stevie G is trying to dumb down Scottish football by filling his squad with robust journeymen , and his tantrum yesterday is aimed at hobbling referees in their duties . Not all TRFC supporters are fans of Gerrard (or King for that matter).
What with all these changes, I’m too nervous to try posting tonight.
Why, oh why, is Gerrard falling for that WATP crap. Rangers were miles ahead of Aberdeen yesterday, why not settle for saying that? Maybe he needs Mikey Srewart as his PR rather than L5.
Any sign anywhere that SG is going to be brought to book for his comments?
I am liking Michael Stewart more and more. I think he is one of the few who are willing to call it how it is with regard to TRFC. Mind you, I also think personal sentiment clouded his judgement on Craig Levein!
Test
EJ
What do you mean exactly. When you post a comment you should be taken to the comment you just posted.
Hello! Can I come in ? Am I in?
Union Bears march, is it?
Time to put the Kettle on, Police Scotland.
Ballyargus
24 clock restored
The need to click twice was solved – but has since returned. Will fix tomorrow.
Time for bed folks. Keep the suggestions coming. I am trying to incorporate the 'mute' function tomorrow also.
TTFN
I was briefly listening to talk sport last night.
Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan was on and discussing Stevie Gee and Rangers. He trotted out the usual cobblers about how badly Rangers were treated by the other clubs etc etc.
Andy Walker was also on and he surprisingly mentioned the fact that it was only Rangers fault and that they had in fact been liquidated.
Not usually a fan of Walkers but he certainly didn't hold back. Not what you'd expect from a Sky pundit. I bet he wouldn't repeat what he said during a game on tv though.
Re SG comments about refs
What has to be remembered is that was his first game in Scottish football ,so who has been telling his it's been happening for a while .
Even if he was referring to having watched previous games to get an insight to the players he would be working with ,then surely most of those players were only brought in the season before .
So who is filling his head with all this nonsense and is it a strategy within the club itself ,IMO it is and it is showing itself in the statements ,the orange and sash strips and comments like Sunday's .
Could there be a connection to the rise in trouble from the support and a strategy such as this (everyone is against us ,siege mentality) ,I think there could ,if so , it could lead to someone getting badly hurt if not worse .
I can very well understand the need for a siege mentality strategy back in 2012 when the old club died and the peepil running the new club needed the ragers 1872 supporters to go back to ibrokes but the fact that it is still allowed to fester 6 yrs later (in fact I would suggest it is getting worse ) because the peepil running sevco 2012 seem incapable of running a sustainable business is very worrying indeed .
It would be astonishing if the SFA,SPFL and the police do not have concerns about this, Although would it surprise anyone if they have not even spoken to sevco on the matter ,no me neither .
One thing is for sure if SG who is just in the door is being fed this nonsense and going on record with it , the average tanked up bigot in the stands anger will be tenfold and that is a dangerous cocktail at a football match
paddy malarkey 6th August 2018 at 22:42
==================================
My view is Gerrard's comments are the latest in an overall strategy by Rangers to show that Scottish football officialdom, both on and off the park, is against them and treats them differently to others. Gerrard's profile in England has already ensured that Talksport are going to run a show into whether his comments have merit. It doesn't matter that Gerrard is only slightly less ignorant about Scottish football than Talksport, but King and Traynor appear to be using his profile to get the message out to a wider audience. However, does anyone think Traynor will allow a single Scottish journalist at this week's press conference to ask Gerrard exactly how he formed his views that it has been going on for years?
In my view the SFA will already be on the back foot, and that will include Referees. Rangers have immense cultural power in Scotland, backed by a specific group of journalists. Other managers would be (and have been) censured for what Gerrard said, but I fully expect no action to be taken against him. and I fully expect that the Morelos red card will be rescinded. Yet time and again we have seen players see red for such an offence, and we are always told it matters not a jot whether contact was made if the intent was violent, and close up footage shows it was far more than just a petulant kick.
Edit – I see today’s Daily Record is reporting the SFA will take no action against Gerrard, alongside setting out the rule which shows exactly why action SHOULD be taken against him! I imagine people such as Lennon and Levein will keep that up their sleeve when they inevitably fall foul of officialdom over the season.
BP re 24 hour clock, thank you.
Now how do I restore the Avatar?
Nice clear easy to read fonts BTW.
All Steven Gerrard has done is show that he is willing to do what a lot of other people before him have done. He is willing to toe the party line and continue the propaganda, circle the wagons if you will.
Unfortunately for him he has done it in the most embarrassing way. It was bad enough for him to attack the officials in the way he did, however his comments about it being happening for years just make him look a fool.
He was either told to say it, or he just said it off his own bat. How many people believe that Steven Gerrard has followed Rangers results for years, never mind how good, bad or indifferent refereeing decision have been with regards the team.
He has no credibility whatsoever, and the entrenched "WATP, everyone hates us we don't care" position has been re-inforced once again. He should actually be ashamed of himself.
upthehoops 7th August 2018 at 07:19
'….In my view the SFA will already be on the back foot..'
_______________________
The SFA have been on the back foot since they sold their personal integrity as people in a position of trust and abandoned the Integrity of Sport by creating the ludicrous lie that the Liquidation of Rangers Football Club of 1872 is somehow different from the Liquidation of any other Scottish football club!
Nothing can be expected of them now other than statements and actions of cowardly men caught in a web of deceit, with a chain round their neck, ready to be jerked hither and thither by someone like King and/or the liars in the SMSM.
The youtube video of 'Hitler reacting to the Edinburgh trams fiasco' could be a picture of the SFA being ranted at by an angry liar of a madman: spineless capitulators worried for their own skins.
We have the measure of them, and not a metaphorical von Stauffenberg among them!
As someone who's watched Rangers and Celtic get more than their fair share of decisions over the years I read Gerrard's comments and the subsequent outrage from Celtic fans with some amusement over the weekend.
To clarify I find the idea that there is some sort of grand conspiracy amongst referees to benefit either Rangers or Celtic to be laughable, both get a disproportionate amount of decisions in their favour because they have the largest fanbases and the consequences for refs in terms of the grief they will receive if they get a decision wrong against one of those clubs is much higher as we've all witnessed over the years. This isn't corruption it's human nature and something that happens the world over and is simply a perk of being a big club, it's particularly evident at home games as it takes a very strong referee not to be at least sub-consciously influenced by 50-60k fanatical supporters screaming at you.
As for why Gerrard made the comments I think it's a fairly simplistic strategic play following in the footsteps of many Celtic employees, Alex Ferguson and possibly the man most likely to have influenced him in Graeme Souness. He's building a siege mentality, heightening that pressure on referees further and trying to get every possible tiny advantage available to him. In my eyes it's distasteful but if you're a Celtic fan who cheered when their club caused a referee strike by adopting the exact same tactics then you're a hypocrite.
I guess the options are we continue the status quo and enjoy the pantomime of Rangers and Celtic occasionally pulling this stunt or we bring in VAR (which will no doubt still attract conspiracy theorists).
All I'd say to Rangers and Celtic fans who complain that refs are against them is try following a wee club for a season and get back to us. 😉
Love the layout.
24 hour clock is the future and brainwashing has made it the norm for myself for years!!
On other matters; TalkSport discussing all things Scottish Football after SG spilled his milk on Sunday is not necessarily a bad thing.
Most of the English media have Scottish journalists (Paddy Barclay, Jonathan Newcross anyone), who would be ideal to contact to get the non Sevco perspective out there for balance and discussion.
Keep the Faith
ThomTheThim 7th August 2018 at 00:17
Time to put the body armour on more like…
Bill1903 7th August 2018 at 06:35
Rent-a-gob Jordan is a Rangers fan – said the SPL without Rangers was a pub league, defended them when Celtic asked for the probe into the Big Tax Case to be reopened saying it was the players that benefited, not the club (WTF? I mean seriously, WTF??), and takes every opportunity to have a pop at Scottish football in general and Celtic in particular… "It's been going on for years"
Testing. Test. Test. Test
https://talksport.com/radio/listen-again/1533578400/1533583800/
From 25 to 14 mins rangers secret fighting fund and liquidation chat
FoF 07:17
Could there be a connection to the rise in trouble from the support and a strategy such as this (everyone is against us ,siege mentality) ,I think there could ,if so , it could lead to someone getting badly hurt if not worse
————————————————————————————————————-
I couldn't help when reading of the "march" being planned before the St Mirren game, that all I could think of was "Team handed". …I know they like their wee marches, but this follows on the back of promotional images of a fitba fan having his head kicked in for a similar march…..And now, two attempted murders of foreign nationals.
Methinks the Gerrard doth protest too much.
This lashing out by him and the recent statements from the club* tell me the pressure inside Ibrox is at an all time high. A defeat by Maribor and it's game over .
It's said that history doesn't repeat but it rhymes, in this case it may just repeat itself.
The accounts will make interesting reading if we ever get to see them.
@ upthehoops 7th August 2018 at 07:19
========================
We've already seen people being harmed by this: 2 supporters from foreign team recently ended up in hospital with knife wounds. It's disgusting that neither the SFA nor EUFA will do anything about it. Makes me glad my team is in a lower league these days and unlikely to be involved in any games against them.
From the Daily Record: 'Former Crystal Palace chairman claims Rangers boss Steven Gerrard will be allowed to splash the cash thanks to a mysterious benefactor'
So money finding its way into the Ibrox coffers via unknown benefactors all to stop 10 in a row. Are there not rules and regulations regarding this?
Who could the mysterious benefactor be?
If the Daily Record is to be believed (a stretch at any time, I know!), then the SFA's Judicial Protocols are going to be shown as not fit for purpose after one round of the Ladbrokes' Premiership.
The sixth floor at Hampden, SFA & SPL, really should hang their heads in shame.
I expect that Morelos' appeal won't be heard this week, due to UEFA League action on Thursday & he will face St. Mirren at the weekend.
Re my post at 1131hrs.:
1. 'Awaiting moderation'.
2. Had to press 'Submit Comment' twice.
3. After submitting comment, was taken back to top of previous page, 136 (blog content, not comments). Using Chrome, wonder if this a factor?
4. Is it possible to put a page-counter below blog content & above start of comments to allow easier navigation?
5. Do I really need to sign up to something else (Gravatar) to enable me to put up an avatar?
Carfins Finest 7th August 2018 at 11:25
From the Daily Record: 'Former Crystal Palace chairman claims Rangers boss Steven Gerrard will be allowed to splash the cash thanks to a mysterious benefactor'
So money finding its way into the Ibrox coffers via unknown benefactors all to stop 10 in a row. Are there not rules and regulations regarding this?
Who could the mysterious benefactor be?
______________________
I don't think there are any rules or regulations regarding donations from mysterious benefactors as Hearts benefitted from a large donation from an unnamed benefactor to help finance the new stand. Of course, this was made public by Hearts/Ann Budge rather than through some unconnected source!
What I do wonder, though, is how/why this news is coming via a former Crystal Palace chairman rather than from TRFC themselves? It's almost as though TRFC, or it's PR people, have decided it's a good idea to get 'good news' out there coming from a source that might sound authoritative but can't be attributed to anyone at Ibrox should future events prove it to be an outright lie.
I do hope the SFA and/or the SPFL have contacted Ibrox for clarification and details and, in the event it is true, that all money laundering checks will have been carried out, ensuring the money is from a source within the UK and that no transactions are being carried out beyond the UK's borders. TOP and SARS might want to take a look, too.
Of course, the 'mysterious benefactor' might well be that well known source of funds, Euro League Qualification
Carfins Finest 7th August 2018 at 11:25
From the Daily Record: 'Former Crystal Palace chairman claims Rangers boss Steven Gerrard will be allowed to splash the cash thanks to a mysterious benefactor'
So money finding its way into the Ibrox coffers via unknown benefactors all to stop 10 in a row. Are there not rules and regulations regarding this?
Who could the mysterious benefactor be?
—————————————————————————————————————–
The bank of used readies.?……Scotland needs a strong mover of cash with no provenance.
Carfins Finest 7th August 2018 at 11:25
'…'Former Crystal Palace chairman claims Rangers boss Steven Gerrard will be allowed to splash the cash thanks to a mysterious benefactor''
____________________
Is that Jordan?
"No potential buyers came forward to make a bid for Palace, and the club have become embroiled in deep financial trouble. Rumours persist of personal financial difficulties as Jordan faced "cashflow" problems relating to wage payments at the club in November and December 2009.[4] On 26 January 2010 Crystal Palace went into administration and Jordan's ownership came to an end. "
Clear your feet, please, while I hawk and spit!
Dear God, that football should attract such unattractive people as those of whom we have too much!
A short opinion post to serve as a test.
King recently stated that he wanted to return to the previous relationship Rangers (sic) had with the footballing authorities, i.e. Ogilvie, Smith, Farry etc.
Gerrard's remarks appear to be an attempt to pressure referees back into "honest mistakes".
It's all part of the long term strategy to restore the natural order.
Someone has made a laughing stock of Gerrard.
Looking good guys, well done.
Big Pink 2nd August 2018 at 08:56
I wonder if anyone could shed light on the suggestion that there was a 2008 PAYE audit carried out by HMRC which resulted in a substantial settlement (around £0.3m).
The audit is said to have been a consequence of a “Full Compliance Review” covering dates from 1996 to 2004.
It may be that this stuff has been lost in the sea of documentation and allegation over the last few years but I hadn’t heard about it until a few weeks ago.
====================================
Apologies for not responding to this post a few days ago. I've finally located a document that refers to this audit.
Section 8.3.3 refers to the long running BTC and WTC cases.
There is also a reference to a PAYE Audit in 2009, with RFC paying £2,079 in respect of tax years 2006/07 and 2007/08.
BP a couple of requests
Can you copy the "Pages" links to the top of the comments as well as the bottom as it helps searching for earlier comments.
Can you change the colour of "quoted" text to some thing more distinct than the pale blue. A darker blue would probably be fine.
Nick 7th August 2018 at 09:18
All I'd say to Rangers and Celtic fans who complain that refs are against them is try following a wee club for a season and get back to us.
==========================================
Here's an idea, give it a try yourself.
Your beloved Hibs are hardly a "wee club".
At least Stevie G's arrival has restored the word "liquidation" to the mainstream . That's twice I've seen it used in the past week without demur .
I can't see the OT forum, has it been scrapped?
Nick 7th August 2018 at 09:18
'….when their club caused a referee strike ..'
___________________
Don't act the ' agent provocateur', Nick!
You know perfectly well that the strike was caused by the most disgraceful lying and cheating of Dougie McDonald, whom not even the SFA crooks could protect any longer.
He was a disgrace to himself , and like many men connected with the events of 2012, will go down to the grave remembered as 'disgraced sports cheat'
Homunculus 7th August 2018 at 13:02
Here's an idea, give it a try yourself.
Your beloved Hibs are hardly a "wee club".
The size of a club is of course relative. Celtic are a small club compared to Barcelona, Hibs are a small club compared to Celtic and Morton are a small club compared to Hibs.
The fact remains that a referee can give a terrible decision against Hibs and other than the standard abuse from the terraces at the time the world moves on and forgets. Give a decision against Rangers or Celtic and you can have vicious rumours spread about you online, windows smashed, lip-readers hired or if you're on a disciplinary panel demands to know "who are these people".
Referees are people, many people consciously or sub-consciously choose the perceived easiest route in life. For that reason I have nothing but respect for the referee who sent off a Rangers player in the 5th minute of their season opener at the weekend as there was certainly an easier decision there for him to make. I would be stunned if Rangers and Celtic didn't benefit occasionally from referees choosing to rule in their favour for an easy life when faced with a 50/50 decision.
It shouldn't happen but it's human nature.
John Clark 7th August 2018 at 14:12
Don't act the ' agent provocateur', Nick!
You know perfectly well that the strike was caused by the most disgraceful lying and cheating of Dougie McDonald, whom not even the SFA crooks could protect any longer.
I think this is a bit of a rewriting of history or at least selective memory John. The referee strike was called after Willie Collum received death threats following an Old Firm match which Celtic lost and other referees received threatening communications at their workplaces.
I don't doubt McDonald's dishonesty the month before in trying to cover up a mistake led to heightened tensions but I don't think that justifies the death threats to other referees. My view is the Scotland's referees are hopelessly incompetent and weak but as a union man I completely supported their right to strike at the time.
People have a right to feel safe at their work even if they aren't very good at their job.
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