Leggat - SFA And Regan Should Beware Contempt Of Court Charges

[ian1964 10,720]

THERE are so many of my colleagues who should not be let loose unaccompanied on Londonâ??s Oxford Street, for fear of them being fleeced, that their numbers would probably jam the old shopping thoroughfare.

 

Back in my heyday Oxford Street was the haunt of nâ??er-do-wells such as three-card-trick hucksters and find-the-lady tricksters.

 

Some of my the Scottish press pack pals give the impression of being gullible enough to lose their wad to one gang on their way down the street, fill up at an ATM and then lose that wad too, to other shysters on their way back.

 

How else to explain their headlong rush to believe that a decision taken by the eminent and learned Scottish Judge, Lord Glennie, sitting amidst the Majesty of the Court of Session, with reference to one of the oldest and most sacred legal systems in the world, Scots Law, should have anything to fear from Sep Blatter and his gang at FIFA.

 

Blatter? Is that us back in Oxford Street surrounded by find-the-lady tricksters and shysters?

 

I name one notable press pack exception to this headlong rush of ill informed hysteria, Michael Grant in the Herald.

 

Grant wrote a reasoned and balanced view of what it all meant and also performed admirably, with wisdom and common sense on BBC Radio Scotland yesterday morning.

 

A wee word of warning to Michael. He should be careful there. Admirable wisdom and common sense, when applied to matters Rangers, do not seem to be welcome on the BBC Scotland airwaves, ruled as they are by a cabal of Rangers hating Celtic supporters.

 

They know who they are. I know who they are. And soon everyone will know who they are.

 

For the moment, let us return to the judgment of the eminent and learned Lord Glennie, issued from the Majesty of Edinburghâ??s ancient Court of Session.

 

Lord Glennie said there was no basis in the Scottish Football Associationâ??s Laws for the punishment of a year-long transfer ban to be imposed on Rangers.

 

As any of his TransAtlantic fellow jurists may say, we hold this truth to be self evident.

 

Lord Glennie then pronounced that the matter of the sentence â?? the SENTENCE, mind you â?? should be referred back to the INDEPENDENT Appeals Tribunal.

 

Rangers at no time appealed against the VERDICT!

 

It would appear that there are many in the press pack who have difficulty separating the verdict from the sentence.

 

There were just as many journalists who either lazily or willfully compared the Rangers case to

the one involving Swiss club Sion. There are no similarities.

 

Sion were found guilty of illegal methods in the transfer market and banned from signing players. They then ignored the sentence, signed players and played them in a UEFA tournament.

 

Not a wee bit different. Totally different!

 

In effect, what we have here is another example of how the Scottish Football Association has fallen into disrepair since Stewart Regan was allowed to highjack it and sneak his best buddy, Celtic chief executive, Peter Lawwell, into the seat alongside him around the boardroom table inside Hampden.

 

After the late Paul McBride QC successfully challenged a six match ban on Neil Lennon, with threats of court proceedings hanging in the air, Regan promised reform of the Scottish Football Association Articles of Association, Laws, Rules, Procedures, etc. McBride QC went on record as saying he would help.

 

Stewart Regan went on record too, recalling how the threat of legal action over the Neil Lennon ban had hung in the air and voicing his concern that the Scottish Football Association should never again leave itself open to the possibility of being usurped by the Law of the Land, in, for instance, the Court of Session.

 

Regan said: "We have discussed the matter with Celtic Football Club and they accept that Neil Lennon was guilty of misconduct.

 

"However, with regard to the timing of the suspension we must accept that if our rules cannot be enforced in a court of law then they cannot be imposed and it is foolish to waste money defending such a point.

 

"We acknowledge that our rules do need updating and I have proposed to our board that we commission a complete re write of the disciplinary procedures from a legal perspective to address this whole matter.

 

"Whilst we have an obligation to ensure that our rules can be legally enforced, nevertheless it is important for the future of Scottish football that we do not allow our disciplinary procedures to be used as a costly legal playground.

 

"We must ensure we can reach a happy balance where every decision is not subject to an appeal and football can self-govern without constant legal interventions."

 

All of the above is pretty clear. Regan mentions the past SFA rules could not be defended in a court of law. That it would be foolish to waste money attempting to defend such a point and that a complete re-write of the disciplinary procedures was needed, from a legal perspective.

 

He added that such a re-write was part of the SFAâ??s obligation to ensure that its rules could be legally enforced.

 

But after goodness knows how much money was wasted by the Regan-Lawwell SFA cabal, the Scottish Football Association cannot even abide by its own rules.

 

The sentence which was handed down to Rangers was one the eminent and learned Lord Glennie, sitting amidst the Majesty of the Court of Session, and drawing on the experience of one of the worldâ??s oldest legal systems, Scots Law, decreed cannot be legally enforced.

 

Lord Glennie spoke and so the whispering in ears began. So started the spin. The result?

 

Big bad FIFA will clamp down on the Scottish Football Association and ORDER them to get tough on Rangers. To boot Rangers out of the Scottish Football Association. To bring an end to Rangers. Take that! Thatâ??ll teach you to want to abide by the Law of the Land.

 

We are Stewart Regan and Peter Lawwellâ??s SFA and we are above such petty restrictions.

 

Weâ??ve got Sep Blatter on our side. What does he care for Scots Law?

 

With an added hint here, a wee whisper there, give it a good stir and what do we have?

 

That it is the Scottish Football Association who will clamp down and hammer Rangers.

 

In fact the sad Sun, so far behind on this Rangers story that it's been lapped countless times, is still peddling the line that FIFA are breathing down the SFA's neck, putting pressure on Stewart Regan to break Scots Law.

 

REALLY?

 

I am sure the eminent and learned Lord Glennie would take more than a passing interest were that to happen.

 

After all, when he overturned the SENTENCE, he sent the matter back to the Independent Judicial Appeals Tribunal. The definitive word there, beingâ?¦.

 

INDEPENDENT!

 

A word Peter Lawwellâ??s pal, SFA head honcho, Stewart Regan used over and over and over again when the verdict was first delivered by an INDEPENDENT Judicial Panel and then confirmed by an INDEPENDENT Judicial Appeals Tribunal.

 

Therefore, any hint, any suggestion, any slight suspicion, that what the eminent and learned Lord Glennie ordered, is not INDEPENDENT, and Stewart Regan will find himself hauled in front of the learned Law Lord and asked to explain himself.

 

Ordered to give Lord Glennie a good reason for his actions not being treated as contempt of court.

 

It won't be that pillar of honesty and integrity, of all things good and decent, the old FIFA despot, Blatter facing the Majesty of Scots Law. It will be Stewart Regan

 

It will be Regan who will be ordered to give Lord Glennie a good reason why he should not utter the feared instruction ofâ?¦

 

â??TAKE HIM DOWN!â?

 

And I donâ??t mean down to the Big Smoke for a wander along Oxford Street to watch so many of the Scottish Press pack fall for the three card trick.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

good stuff from leggo. seems back in form of late.

[GovanAllan 0]

What Leggo does best, needs to stick to this instead of throwing the toys out the pram because TBK never won.