Having decided to charge Leigh Griffiths for singing that HEARTS ARE GOING BURST Vincent Lunny is setting himself up for a busy couple of weeks.
News that the SFA demands that players, staff or officials act in the best interests of the game comes as news to most supporters but when it comes to the SFA expect the unexpected.
The investigation into Griffiths singing is certainly in contrast to the treatment given to Charles Green just days after he had sat down with Regan and Doncaster to produce the mystical five way agreement to catapult Sevco into football.
In full view of the BBC cameras the big ‘anded Yorkshireman joined a chant by Sevco fans asking spectators to clap their hands if the hate Stewart Regan- Green obliged but faced no SFA action.
If that was acting in the best interests of the game surely warning Hearts fans that their club is going burst deserves similar treatment?
Over the next two weeks the supporters of Sevco will be given a platform to let rip with their anger at how they have been picked upon and singled out for punishment by the SFA using the mindset that a new club accelerating towards oblivion was relegated before they had kicked a ball or even filed their accounts.
At Easter Road on Sunday the air is likely to be turned blue with the traditional chants of hatred with a few new tunes added aimed at Stewart Regan and Neil Doncaster. Earlier this season BBC Alba rescheduled the broadcast of a Ross County v St Mirren match due to bad language- a live broadcast will prove trickier to deal with.
Will Lunny be tuned in to Sunday’s glamour tie or will it be filed under the carpet next to the Berwick investigation?
The following week at Ibrox 30,000 plus Sevco fans will roar their hatred of Dundee United believing that Stephen Thompson rather than David Murray and Craig Whyte was responsible for the liquidation of their former club.
Having arranged the venue six months ago to suit their sponsors perhaps Regan will contact Lunny for an investigation into the songs at Ibrox- perhaps not.
There are plenty of incidents in recent times where it could be argued that people involved in football haven’t been acting in the best interests of the game.
Going on previous experience ducking the big issues is a bit of an art form for the men at Hampden Park as the aftermath of the judicial review into Rangers during the 2011/12 season proved.
After bending the rules to avoid expulsion, a transfer embargo was imposed prompting Ally McCoist to ask ‘who are these people’ about the identity of the panel that had imposed the ‘penalty’. A word with his football administrator, Andrew Dickson, would have told the Ibrox boss the names of the panel members.
Almost as soon as McCoist’s comments had been broadcast Raith Rovers were calling in round-the-clock security for Starks Park with director Eric Drysdale taking advise on his personal safety.
Rather than look at the attitude and ethics of their own club in regard to paying players, national insurance and income tax Rangers employee Sandy Jardine led a march of 5,000 fans to Hampden warning of boycotts for those out to get their beloved institution- two months later Rangers went into liquidation.
Asking McCoist to explain his comments would seem the natural reaction, instead the SFA looked in a different direction stating: “We are deeply concerned that the safety and security of Judicial Panel members appointed to a recent Tribunal has been compromised by a wholly irresponsible betrayal of confidential information.
“The Judicial Panel consists of volunteers from across the spectrum of sport and business in Scotland. They are appointed on the basis of anonymity, yet all three panel members have reported intrusion into their lives, including abusive and threatening communication.
“This has been extended to directors of the Scottish FA. It culminated tonight in a visit by police, who are taking seriously the threats made.”
News of the SFA’s charge for Griffiths was met by a statement from Celtic that they will defend the player against the charge which could make for some uncomfortable listening for heavily conflicted SFA President Campbell Ogilvie and his committee members.
The hearing is scheduled for April 24 by which time hopefully Hearts will have gone burst giving Lithuanian creditors the chance to get a fair return for their money.
While the SFA investigate Griffiths spelling out the truth Ogilvie and friends are likely to be busy trying to find a way of show-horning a club in maroon from Edinburgh into the top division to the detriment of their other tax paying members.
If the SFA truly expect officials to act in the best interests of the game there is one former Rangers and Hearts director that they should be dealing with- while he remains in place the SFA will remain the subject of ridicule and contempt by almost all football supporters.
