SFA chief Regan finds Rangers tax issue tedious
The final sitting of the First Tier Tribunal is in Edinburgh today with the outcome of the case having far reaching consequences for every area of professional football in the country.
A decision against Rangers could force the club into administration or even liquidation with immediate consequences for the entire footballing business.
Despite the seriousness of the matter Regan last night tweeted: “@rangerstaxcase Yawn. Anyone got another record we can listen to? #sameold” quickly followed by: “Having spent weeks answering the same questions and the answers not being accepted it becomes a little tedious.”
The dangers of social media, and twitter in particular, have been well demonstrated in recent weeks with Regan one of the few Scottish football officials that engages in twitter.
As well as the issue of the First Tier Tribunal Rangers also face sanctions from the SFA over Craig Whyte serving a seven year ban from being a director as well as questions over unpaid tax when they were given a licence to play in European football for this season.
Despite buying out Sir David Murray’s 83% stake in Rangers for £1 in May of last year it took a BBC documentary in October to reveal that Whyte had served a seven year disqualification as a company director.
Whyte spend six months completing due dilligence for his takeover during which a smaller tax bill of £2.8m came to light with UEFA licensing requirements insisting that clubs can only compete in their competitions if there are no unpaid tax liabilities.
The issue of Whyte’s disqualification wasn’t disclosed to the PLUS market that deals with Rangers shares with SFA rules preventing anyone banned from being a company director having an involvement in football for five years after the ban is completed.
Any adverse verdict against Rangers at the tax tribunal will have devastating consequences for Scottish football but despite the seriousness of the matter Regan happily trivialised the issue as he jetted off to Russia with SFA President Campbell Ogilvie.
One supporter asked Regan: “@StewartRegan Your contempt for fans who feel that some matters are being ignored is appalling. Why not maintain a dignified silence? “
Which brought the reply of: “@rangerstaxcase Yawn. Anyone got another record we can listen to? #sameold.”
Another fan replied with: “Is it not better to say nothing at all than something unpleasant? Really shocked!”
Those remarks really seemed to upset the SFA’s CE who responded with: “ To be fair, I have been asked the same questions for weeks, have answered them but my responses not accepted.”
Regan added: “Having spent weeks answering the same questions and the answers not being accepted it becomes a little tedious.”
On the issue of the UEFA licence Regan tweeted: “Statement says they did not know where liabilities sat. New owner was in same position and bills were challenged.”
Rangers accepted the amount of the smaller tax case which Whyte’s diligence brought to light but challenged the interest and penalty applied by HMRC.
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