Are the SFA walking away from regulating?
Chief Executive Stewart Regan looked very uncomfortable being interviewed by Alex Thompson on Channel 4 news as the London-based broadcaster joined the dots on the financial problems at Rangers.
Before that report was broadcast it emerged that the SFA had sent out a letter to its 93 member clubs looking for them to admit to any wrong doing with regards to payments to players outwith their footballing contracts.
Whether it’s termed secondary contracts, shadow contracts, discretionary payments or anything else, all payments between clubs and players should be on the one contract with copies held by the SFA and SPL.
Next weekend sees the deadline for clubs to submit audited accounts to the SFA to allow them to play football next season. Any club that can’t submit accounts at least six months old (upto 30 September 2011) will not be allowed to compete in Europe next season.
Why the SFA needs to send out a letter basically requesting that clubs ‘grass themselves’ is a mystery.
In order to comply with UEFA regulations the SFA has its very own licencing committee chaired by Rod Petrie of Hibs. Amongst the other members of the seven strong committee are Michael Johnston of Kilmarnock and Andrew Dickson from Rangers.
While licensing and payments outwith contracts are separate matters it should be fair to assume that any club involved with making other payments to players would be refused a licence to represent the SFA in UEFA competition.
According to STV the SFA sent out a letter on March 9 giving clubs until April 6 to send “any written agreement(s) falling within the scope of Article 12.3 which has/have not previously been lodged with the Scottish FA in the previous ten years, in respect of any current or former players of your club.”
The SFA letter also requests that the reply includes “a declaration signed by the club secretary to the effect that your club has complied, without qualification, with the terms of this article at all times throughout the previous ten years.”
Article 12.3 of the Scottish FA’s articles of association says: “…all payments, whether made by the club or otherwise, which are to be made to a player solely relating to his playing activities must be fully recorded within the relevant written agreement with the player prior to submission to the Scottish FA and/or the recognised football body of which his club is in membership.”
With the UEFA licencing deadline looming and the prospect of Rangers going into liquidation the workings of the SFA are coming under greater scrutiny than ever.
Asking clubs to self regulate or report themselves for any breaches of the rules are likely to bring closer scrutiny from UEFA who haven’t been slow to deal with issues elsewhere such as Switzerland.
The Swiss FA were warned that if they didn’t punish Sion an international ban would be applied to their national team and clubs competing in UEFA club competitions.
If the SFA are unable to regulate the Scottish game it can only be a matter of time before UEFA decide to investigate for themselves.
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