The SFA are feeling the heat from UEFA after allowing the Rangers crisis to develop all season.
Yesterday Stewart Regan made some stinging criticisms of Craig Whyte’s leadership of the club less than a week after expressing his deep regret that the club had gone into administration.
The SFA are responsible for licencing all clubs in the country and ensuring that those clubs entered into European football are on a solid financial footing.
Fortunately for Regan Rangers aren’t still involved in the Europa League but twelve months ago Walter Smith’s side were in the middle of ties against Sporting Lisbon.
Yesterday the SFA named the independent panel to investigate the issues at Ibrox with Regan admitting that he has been snubbed for nine months from investigating Whyte.
“The SFA has been kept at arms length by the club’s solicitors,” Regan claimed.
“Despite our best endeavours to get information that would allow us to take a considered view we just haven’t had any information. We made a number of requests to solicitors who were acting for Mr Whyte and we had an exchange of correspondence going back to October.
“I don’t know how many letters were involved but there was a lot and we became increasingly frustrated at the obstructions being put in place to prevent us finding out information we needed.
“We wanted to give the club every chance to explain the situation but that has been difficult.”
Perhaps if the SFA had issued some sanctions they wouldn’t have been fobbed off so quickly.
It took the SFA until December to comment on Whyte after the Rangers chairman was forced to disclose that he had served a seven year ban from holding a directorship.
Only after the club was placed in administration did the SFA announce an independent enquiry with a number of member clubs owed money by Whyte’s disastrous running of Rangers.
Despite the embarassment of Rangers going into administration and the effect that it has on the image of Scottish football Regan’s initial reaction was one of surprise and sympathy.
Last Tuesday Regan said: “I would like to express my deep regret that a Scottish institution should find themselves in the kind of parlous state that has necessitated today’s course of action.”
He added: “This is a profoundly sad chapter in the history of Scottish football and we should not underestimate the potential ramifications for the image of the game as a whole.
“It is important that we learn lessons from this dire situation and work together to provide a platform for clubs to thrive and prosper within their means.”
Rangers must produce audited accounts that confirm the club as a going concern before March 31 to compete in Europe next season. The accounts must be no more than six months old.
If Rangers aren’t licenced to compete in Europe next season it opens up an additional European place for clubs to compete for.
Next season Scotland has two Champions League qualifying places and three Europa League spots allocated.
After yesterday’s announcements by Whyte there appears no prospect of Rangers coming out of administration in next month leaving the door open to Motherwell or St Johnstone to appear in a Champions League qualifier for the first time.
The chances of reaching the group stages are slim but if they get through one qualifying round then lose out they’ll get a second opportunity of European football through the Europa League.
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Hi Joe,
Yes the wagons have been circling over the last year..
Hopefully the outcome is similar to Custer at the Little Big Horn ..
EUFA from afar will be watching what is happening, closely hopefully.
The SFA have they been complicit in a cover up for many years ? Well suspicious and a possibility that 10 years with add on years before the Millenium.
Cheating on a grandious scale and probably the worst known to World Football.
Joe we don’t know where this is going to lead as different organisations trace the cooked books. More accurately organisations cooking the books is a likely outcome. Never the less this seems to be fraud on a massive scale that shall leave its mark on Rangers and the SFA’s involvement over years and not just the last nine months.
The outcome will not be known for quite some time but hopefully any SFA involvement will not be punished by UEFA .
Ludicrous if our club and others were subject to penalties due to only THEM and SFA graduates misdeeds.
Like many Celts I/we have nothing to feel guilty for due to our lack of sympathy.. Highly recommended to cure illness I say, as I feel very comfortable laughing my arse off…
What happened to the hearse? Did Kelly the discreditted save it for future use. Ha Ha If now an antique and stored in his garage I suggest he may have a buyer in Craig White. The peepil are terribly angry Joe.
Hail Hail A couldny sleep these lasts nights..
Hi David good read, what if the SFA have found us a way out of this sh***hole league, UEFA know who we are, what we bring to the game, they know our history.
Doonundabhoy
“stupid is as stupid does” if my memory serves me was Forrest Gumps précis on how he behaves.
Of course Whyte tells porkies, strips assets and cuts and runs because that’s the man he is.
Whyte has nothing to lose and £M’s to gain. Loss of reputation only matters if you had one in the first place, he didn’t.
‘Minty knew’ indeed they had common associates. Whyte was chosen to be the patsy to take the flack for the upcoming tsunami that was headed in ragers direction.
He was even pointed towards the sweety jar where the Arsenal shares were kept.
The result of this whole issue will be that Munty’s reputation is damaged, less than if he’d still been at the helm of his Titanic, helped by the MSM (they are already claiming he was ‘poorly advised’) Whyte departs the scene his reputation as a bampot perfectly in tact, ragers liquidated ( I pray) which would have happened anyway and the SFA proclaim we need to learn lessons and move on!
Re SFA I can’t help wondering what involvement king rat peat may have, having just retired.
It’s been known for quite some time that Whyte wasn’t ‘fit and proper’ but the SFA did SFA!!!
Lord Nimmo Smith has excellent credential’s but in his biggest investigation’s he concluded there was nothing to report.
I fear he might give a Lord Hutton verdict that the Iraq war was caused by the BBC and it was wrong to suggest any dossier was dodgy. Time will tell.
Meanwhile to all timmites I would respectfully advise
Be vigilant against the establishment favouring the hun
Well said Gerry D.
You sum up your whole email in the last two sentences.
Timmies around the world, watch your backs. The quandry now facing the SFA, SPL and all other establishment organizations is how do they slow the freight train which is Celtic while making it look like they really are investigating the corruption of Ibrox? After all, clearly, we are just paranoid!!
On the ball Joe…. keep up the good work
It appears the SFA are now back tracking in an attempt to cover their backs.
“fiddled while Rome burns” springs to mind.
UEFA/FIFA will on doubt be keeping a close watch on the developing situation in Scotland.
If UEFA start their own investigation,then the shit will hit the fan, I fear for the implications for Scottish football,if rules/articles have been breached/broken(or they just turned a blind eye)it looks like the situition at the bigotdome will bring down some of their buddies at Hampden.
They no doubt have a plan B ,change the rules to allow the Orcs to carry on as normal.
Hail Hail
Oh and watch your own back too, their anger and spite knows no bounds!
Too Right Gerry….we have had to endure 130 years of spite and anger from all sides.
but it’s Jelly and Icecream time now.
Keep The Faith
Totally, I’ve had to sook lemons all week so I can still do business!!
Loving it, times of our lives!!!
Excellent read, the SFA have really embarrassed themselves, they’ve basically just said “we couldnt get any information off of them so we just let them away with it anyway” instead of applying punishments or even warnings about not being open with them.
As for Motherwell and St Johnstone in Champions League ties, that sounds great, and as much as I don’t like Motherwell (St Johnstone are ok I guess) I would love to see them qualify for Europe for the sake of Scotland! especially if it means Rangers aren’t in it!