A report in The Sun claims that the SFA are ready to ditch the post of Compliance Officer.
Yesterday they announced that Clare Whyte was walking away after just two years in the job leaving the ‘Situation Vacant’ for the third time in six years.
Vincent Lunny, Tony McGlennan and Whyte were heralded as bringing in a level of professionalism and integrity to the SFA but for some unexplained reason have all quickly decided to depart the scene sharply.
You won’t read about it in many other places but with a group of Celtic shareholders probing the 2011 UEFA licence awarded to the old Rangers club it seems that the job of Compliance Officer is toxic with no-one prepared to be on the payroll when the issue is exposed.
The initial decision to grant a licence to a club that owed £2.8m to HMRC is clearly in breach of UEFA rules, more damaging for the SFA is the lengths that they have gone to to initially deny that there was a problem and since September 2017 delay and cover up the way that the licence was awarded.
The Sun reports:
CLARE WHYTE has quit her post as the SFA’s compliance officer — and may NOT be replaced.
SunSport understands Hampden chiefs are considering out-sourcing the job to a legal firm rather than appointing a direct successor. Whyte has decided to leave the role after just two years, but has agreed to continue working until the new year before stepping down.
SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell released a statement stating the body’s intention to replace Whyte. But SunSport understands there is now a growing feeling on Hampden’s sixth floor corridor of power that the job set-up should be changed.
Current SFA President Rod Petrie was on the Licence Committee in 2011 alongside Andrew Dickson with former Rangers and Hearts director Campbell Ogilvie sitting as SFA President.
It was an open secret that the so-called Wee Tax Case of £2.8m was unpaid with that bill dating back to the monies paid to Tore Andre Flo and Ronald de Boer that wasn’t declared at the time to the SFA or HMRC. Those two players were ineligible for every match that they played for the old Ibrox club.
No -one at the SFA queried the Licence application that requires clubs to confirm that they don’t have any overdue/unpaid tax. In effect Dave Murray withheld money to HMRC in order to buy players from other clubs and pay them through dual contracts, with a token contract going through the books while so-called EBTs were effectively disguised remuneration overflowing with cash.
Had the Licence rules been applied properly Celtic would have gone forward into the Champions League qualifiers rather than the Ibrox side who crashed out to Malmo under the leadership of Ally McCoist.
