Two BBC Scotland reporters are wildly at odds with each other over the reported SPFL investment from James Anderson.
On Saturday’s Sportsound show Ann Budge brought up the prospect of some philanthropists handing money over to the Scottish game with Anderson identified on Monday by the Daily Record as one of the benefactors.
Neil Doncaster was prompted into action with the word coming back being that Anderson’s investment was with no strings attached despite suspicions that League Reconstruction to benefit Hearts would be part of the deal.
Over at BBC Scotland two reporters are vying for attention, from their tweets it seems that there is some internal competition on the story which throws doubt over the accuracy of reporting from the state broadcaster.
If what I’m hearing is correct , I can understand why @spfl CE Neil Doncaster describes the James Anderson consortium money as “extremely generous” and “could make a significant difference” to the Scottish game. Am told the donation is well over £4m…
— @Kheredine (@Kheredine2018) June 2, 2020
More on the money coming the spfl’s way from James Anderson. It’s been confirmed to me that it’s around TWO million pounds, which will be split equally between ALL 42 clubs. Spfl told clubs today that reports of the amount being over 4 million pounds, are “wildly exaggerated”.
— Jane Lewis (@Jane__Lewis) June 3, 2020
How Anderson directs the money is a big issue for the SPFL to navigate. All broadcasting and sponsorship money goes into a central pot with the bulk, believed to be over 80% going to Premiership clubs.
The way that Anderson’s investment has been framed it is to be targeted at lower division clubs struggling with the costs of conducting medical testing to allow them to resume playing.