It’s now over two months since Stewart Regan finally admitted that issues relating to the UEFA licence given to Rangers (IL) for season 2011/12 had been referred to the Compliance Officer at the SFA.
A number of witnesses at the Craig Whyte trial confirmed that the £2.8m Wee Tax Case bill was overdue when the licence was granted.
For over a decade the club had been avoiding the income tax and national insurance due on the Discount Option Scheme used to pay Ronald de Boer and Tore Andre Flo. No football punishment has ever been handed out for using ineligible players whose registered contracts were for laughable wages compared to the deals at their previous clubs.
While the Compliance Office shuffles papers and re-arranges paper clips the Celtic Underground website has put together a very clear timeline of the licence breach.
Various documents have emerged over the last few years that show clearly that the HMRC bill was overdue. It wasn’t in dispute or being negotiated, it was overdue.
Two months seems a more than reasonable timespan for the Compliance Officer to investigate.
Having refused to ‘rake over old coals’ it looks increasingly likely that the SFA are looking for a way to move on from a monumental failure that cost HMRC millions in lost revenue and Celtic the opportunity to take part in the qualifiers for the 2011/12 Champions League and earn Scotland valuable co-efficient points and a possible Champions League windfall for every club in the top flight.
CLICK HERE for the Celtic Underground report which won’t be touched by Mark Daly.
