Ibrox court actions put the SFA in the dock and Dickson in the spotlight

News that Craig Whyte and Charles Green have been charged with fraud relating to the asset sale of ‘Rangers’ in 2012 must have been viewed with dread by the SFA and SPFL who took over from the SPL.

The links between Green and Whyte, Sevco 5088 and Sevco Scotland quickly came to light in 2012 as the authorities attempted to deal with Armageddon and serious social unrest.

When Stewart Regan and Neil Doncaster took up their chief executive posts they wouldn’t have expected to be dealing with issues of the magnitude unfolding at Ibrox. In that scenario bringing in outside experts to unravel matters should have been a priority.

Mr Whyte’s colourful career was exposed online within hours of his billionaire status being presented to the gullible and easily led. A competent authority would have looked closely at the allegations against Whyte, late in 2011 the BBC revealed that the man from Motherwell had been banned from being a director when he paid Dave Murray £1 for the troubled club.

Realising that they had been duped the SFA fined Whyte £200,000 and banned him from Scottish football for life. On 23 April 2012 they stated: “Under Articles 94.1 and 95, the Tribunal expelled Craig Whyte for life from any participation in Association Football in Scotland.”

Having been taken in by the Ibrox promises of 2011 the SFA had a duty to the Scottish game to ensure that the rules were imposed, as the summer of 2012 unraveled Mr Green came to the fore.

Like Mr Whyte there was plenty in the background of the big ‘anded Yorkshire businessman to raise suspicions.

In between Mr Green and Mr Whyte were David Whitehouse and Paul Clark from Duff & Phelps. The fact that they had been appointed as administrators by the former billionaire should have been a red flag event throughout Hampden.

The links between the four men are now the subject of court action, the issues couldn’t be more serious ‘organised crime offences in relation to the alleged fraudulent acquisition of the club’.

While it would be naïve to expect the SFA to be able to call on the same resources used by Police Scotland, bringing in professionals to look at the 2012 membership application could have saved a lot of heartache further down the line.

Satisfied that they hadn’t been duped, the SFA stated in a Q and A type article in their website on 17 July 2012: “Q) Does the Scottish FA have a fit and proper person report for the new Rangers owner(s) and do we know who the main investors/directors are? 

Answer: “The Scottish FA has received private and confidential documentation from Sevco Scotland Ltd relating to the above. We have asked Sevco to provide further supplementary information and will consider that information this week.

“Under new Scottish FA rules, it is a requirement of the outgoing club directors to conduct a full investigation under the Fit and Proper Guidelines. Given Rangers FC’s insolvency event, it has been incumbent on the administrators, Duff and Phelps, to carry out the necessary checks on the proposed new directors, as well as our own investigations.”

Putting their faith in Duff and Phelps, appointed by Mr Whyte who now had a lifetime ban by the SFA seems a strange decision by the SFA.

The Charlotte Fakes twitter account quickly threw up correspondence and audio recordings that strengthened the links between Mr Green and Mr Whyte.

When the Scottish Sun ran with the story that Mr Whyte paid money into the bank account of Imran Ahmad’s mum to ensure his stake in the new club the SFA grew suspicious.

Incredibly, having been misled by Rangers in 2011 over Mr Whyte and having trusted Duff and Phelps over Mr Green a year later the SFA again turned to within Ibrox for reassurance.

Rather than investigate for themselves the claims of Mr Whyte’s payment to Mr Ahmad the SFA contented themselves with a report commissioned by the club from Pinsent Masons.

With the prospect of having their licence cancelled to no-one’s surprise the Pinsent Masons report found no connections to Mr Whye.

A club statement on 30 May 2013 read: “Based on the assessment of the available evidence, the company considers that the investigation found no evidence that Craig Whyte had any involvement with Sevco Scotland Limited (now called The Rangers Football Club Limited), the company which ultimately acquired the business and assets of The Rangers Football Club PLC from its administrators.”

“Nor which would suggest that Craig Whyte invested in The Rangers Football Club Limited or Rangers International Football Club plc, either directly or indirectly through any third party companies or vehicles.”

With administration hovering over the new regime at Ibrox, led by Dave King who was described as a glib and shameless liar by a South African judge, the lessons of the past are obvious to all that lax certification will only lead to further problems.

Fortunately the football bodies can call upon an expert from within their own ranks to explain the current set up and unravel the cloudy issues that have never been far away over the last decade.

In July Andrew Dickson was appointed to Scottish FA Football Regulatory Advisory Group. Mr Dickson worked under Mr Green and Mr Whyte and administered the EBT schemes as part of his role as football administrator.

With court proceedings underway the SFA have an easy excuse to call upon rather than look into their own role in the disastrous affairs at Ibrox.

As Mr King’s venture hits the rocks applying the rules without fear and favour may prove unpopular but as the events at the High Court yesterday showed brave decisions can save a lot of heartache further down the line.