Stewart Regan and Neil Doncaster dragged Scottish football further into the gutter today during an appearance at the Scottish Parliament.
The notion that football was above the law of the land was explained by both men to the amazement of the MSP’s on the Public Petitions Committee.
News that some football clubs are breaking minimum wage legislation has been greeted by a shrug of the shoulders by the football authorities who have copies of the contracts for every player in the game.
Doncaster had been caught out in December claiming to be unaware of zero hour contracts when the Daily Record had previously contacted the SPFL on that matter.
Today STV reported Regan telling MSPs: “Even a player who is on his contract earning £1 per week, that may not be breaching the minimum wage legislation because he may be being paid an appearance fee and he may simply turn up to play a match and he may simply have that on a contract supplemented by an appearance fee.
“It is very difficult to say what is on that contract is in any relation to the number of hours being paid.
“An appearance fee could be in total greater than the minimum wage for the hours that player is involved with the club.”
Doncaster chimed in with: “Just simply looking at the weekly wage will not tell you the information that you need in order to ascertain whether the national minimum legislation is being complied with or not.”
From their appointments in 2010 through until February 2012 Regan and Doncaster imposed no sanctions on Rangers (IL) for running EBT schemes in contradiction of SFA and SPL rules.
Between March and September 2011 they assisted Rangers in attempting to reach the group phase of the Champions League despite owing Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs £2.8m.
Sadly no one within Scottish football has ever questioned the processes involved in these activities.