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Roger Mitchell led down garden path by Harlem Globetrotters stitch up

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Image for Roger Mitchell led down garden path by Harlem Globetrotters stitch up

Roger Mitchell didn’t take kindly to being reminded of when he was involved in creating an artificial sporting contest to suit commercial needs.

The Italian based Scot was Chief Executive of the SPL in 1998, overseeing the start of the disguised remuneration years which allowed Dave Murray to put out a team capable of remaining competitive with Celtic.

It made for great box office as broadcasters and sponsors took a slice of the action as the SPL and their chief executive cashed in on a product that Murray knew couldn’t be funded by legal means.

While in charge of the SPL Mitchell didn’t bat an eyelid as Tore Andre Flo and Ronald de Boer arrived at Rangers on token contracts, much less than their reported wages at Chelsea and Barcelona. At the same time Celtic registered contracts for Neil Lennon and Chris Sutton that were in line with their EPL deals.

Earlier today plans emerged to trim the EPL from 20 teams to 18 with the top clubs getting an increased cut of the prize pot- that is the distribution model that keeps the EPL more compact and competitive that Spain or Italy.

Creating a Harlem Globetrotters set up was suggested- showbiz rather than sport with Mitchell opting out of the conversation when he realised the parallels between the SPL circus during his reign and the EPL proposals he was so upset by.

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