Dr Waiton on Rangers, Free Speech and Sectarianism

[der Berliner 3,748]

It is also in our - and at the end that of Scottish football's - interest to lay open the influence of Celtic FC on and within the authorities of the Scottish game.

[der Berliner 3,748]

Celtic Football Club statement

 

By: Newsroom Staff on 04 Mar, 2014 17:14

 

CELTIC have called for a review of the Offensive Behaviour at Football Grounds Act to be brought forward and have labelled it ´unhelpful and counter-productive´.

 

The Scottish Government introduced the legislation in 2012 and promised a review after two full football seasons of operation. However, Celtic believe that there is already sufficient evidence of the Act´s ´unhelpfulness and negative impacts´ to justify an immediate review with action to follow.

 

Celtic have all along opposed this legislation which has been used to create a general presumption that different laws should apply to football supporters as distinct from society as a whole.

 

This has inevitably led to a sense of discrimination across Scottish football and has brought the law into disrepute when tested in the criminal courts. It has also acted as a barrier to our own efforts to encourage supporters to behave in a way which is consistent with the club´s proud history and reputation.

 

We believe the Scottish Government should review, as a matter of urgency, the way in which this unhelpful and counter-productive Act is operating.

 

Celtic have always valued a positive relationship with the police and we are concerned that they too have now been put in the position of enforcing legislation which is provocative and does not command widespread respect.

 

The Scottish Government has conceded the need to review the workings of the legislation but we see no need for delay since there is plenty of evidence available, not least from the comments of Sheriffs who have had to deal with cases arising from it.

 

It would be helpful if the new season could kick off in August with these issues resolved so that everyone could concentrate on promoting the best possible environment for Scottish football and marginalising unwelcome influences which attach themselves to it.

 

Celtic FC

 

In essence:

 

THEY are not able to stop (large parts of their support) being the "sporting wing" of the IRA, they are not willing to abstain from being it in the future either. It is an open secret that Celtic FC runs Scottish football and that they will do all they can to align it with their aims and to their will.

 

All the neat statements they gave these last years where utterly hollow, any of their supporters that stepped over the Terrorist Act 2006 or the Offensive Behaviour Bill have been warmly greated back into the Scumhut after some initial ballyhoo, their Amsterdam hooligans acquired martyr status amongst the support - which incidentally asked the club to stand up for "their own". We all know that they are living in their own reality, if not to say universe. We should try to make sure that this universe does not become ours in years to come. So where are our Charlottes and investigative journalists?

[aweebluesoandso 290]

One thing about Salmond and the SNP is that they are not dumb, Celtic's hypocrisy and backpedaling will not be lost on them. The Offensive Behaviour law will not be repealed, but will be tweaked to fill the loopholes that some judges are using to allow supporters to escape without punishment. If the law is to be repealed it will come when Scottish Lhabour have the power again at Hollyrood imo.

 

Celtic's position might be seen as clever move amongst the Republican sympathisers, but amongst the majority it will be seen for what it is, a hypercritical cynical attempt by a morally bankrupt club, to allow terrorist glorification to go unchallenged at their club.

[Hildy 0]

This is where we need a strong, robust CEO to come out and say that in no way does Liewell speak on behalf of us.

Liewell and his grotesque club have far too much power in Scottish football at present. One of the biggest challenges facing GW will be to regain some of that power in the next year or so.

 

Lawwell is steeped in Celtic. He is a professional and a fan. He understands the politics of the Old Firm because he was born into it and has lived it.

 

Who at Rangers can match him? Celtic has managed to stay in the control of the Celtic-minded and is even at ease taking on the Scottish government these days.

 

Lawwell knows that Rangers is Celtic's only real threat, but he really doesn't fear Rangers any more. Celtic has enough wealth and influence to be confident of being number one in Scotland for some time to come.

 

And now, as he enjoys a new position in Europe to advance Celtic's cause, Rangers are having a stushie about a crisis loan.

 

There is no light at the end of the dark tunnel we are presently in. Lawwell will be as worried about Wallace as Celtic are about throwing away the league.

[bluebear54 0]

It's just struck me that we're perhaps overcomplicating Lawwell's statement.

Now that Celtic's unbeaten record is no longer attainable, the league is won and they're out of Europe and the domestic Cups, this is merely a shameful attempt to encourage ticket sales by promoting those most favourite of Celtic pastimes - a sense of victimisation and a cause.

Edited March 6, 2014 by bluebear54

[der Berliner 3,748]

Sidenote ... with the same doom-clouded glasses that we look at Rangers these days, people look beyond the Clyde with unwarranted glory-clouded eyes. There is every reason to believe that the Scum will collect 3IAR. They probably still have the CL cash of last season, plus some from this year. They may shed a few of their veterans in the summer for a bit of shiny-shiny and get some new folk. So unless (by the looks of it) Aberdeen does build a squad that is capable of challenging them, you could guess that 4IAR is a good possibility. Yet, to keep them at the level they are, they do need external cash as well and no-one can predict that they'll reach the CL next season and the season thereafter too. I'm not saying that we will be up there sooner rather than later, but I'd predict that the future for them is not as bright as people assume.

 

In any case, their fortunes on the park are irrelevant here. What vigilant folk need to do is mark out the way Scum FC has taken a grip of the Scottish game, a very open grip at that, essentially controls how the media presents them as well. That might be fine in Scotland, but people from the outside might take issue here. And it is those that need to be addressed.

[ian1964 10,724]

The general secretary of UEFA has given Celtic’s aspirations to exit Scottish football a boost by declaring the association were ready to discuss the proposal with the Scottish champons.

 

Gianni Infantino responded to suggestions by Fergus McCann that Celtic should move to the English Premier League by saying UEFA was “open to discussing everything.”

 

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell was appointed to executive board of the European Club Association, a position from which the club will hope to increase their influence among European football chiefs.

 

Ifantino suggested that the outcome of an experiment in women’s football, where Belgian and Dutch teams play each other in a newly-formed championship, would determine the likelihood of more high profile cross-border mergers taking place.

 

Celtic and Rangers have been agitating periodically for a move to the English Premier League for a number of years, with both clubs until recent times on unison over claims that they had outgrown the Scottish game.

 

The general secretary maintained that UEFA firmly opposes cross-border leagues at the game’s elite level at present, and added that nothing would happen in the short term.

 

But, offering Celtic hope of a long-term solution, he said: “I don’t know what will happen and there are other discussions going on in Scotland at the moment about independence in any case. One part of the country wants independence and another wants to join England. There is an experiment, a test, going on in the BeNe League in women’s football with Belgium and the Netherlands.

 

“This has gone on for a year and we will take a look into that after the second year.”

 

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl/uefa-offer-celtic-hope-over-moving-to-england-1-3329021

 

A nothing article designed to entice the BHEASTS back to the piggery! and renew season tickets!

Edited March 6, 2014 by ian1964

[der Berliner 3,748]

Infantino ... translates as (little) Infant. Suggestions by Fergus McCann? What has he got to do with UEFA and Scum FC these days? And why do they think that Sky or the EPL or their clubs have any interest in Scum FC? As Ian says, most likely a ST stunt.

[Hildy 0]

UEFA made it clear a few years ago that it wouldn't object to Rangers and Celtic playing in the English league system.

 

I think we're moving closer to change but no-one can be sure what change will actually come about. At some point, a dramatic change will happen. It might be in five years or it could be in fifty, but it will happen.

 

I expect Celtic to be proactive in pushing for a more lucrative alternative to playing in the Scottish league, but it remains to be seen if a change will mean a move for both Glasgow clubs or just the one.

 

Rangers needs to be involved in this. It needs to know what is going in and be a part of it. It cannot sit idly by while its main rival seeks a promotion to a healthier environment.

 

The idea of being marooned in Scotland while a rival enjoys the benefits of a move to a higher grade environment is extremely unappealing, and that's putting it mildly.

[der Berliner 3,748]

What UEFA should be looking at is some sort of 2 or 3 tier "European League" with the big guns involved. The CL has already become a money-spinning "club" for those teams, while the remaining European competition carries the same "glorious" status as the League Cup in England. The biggest problem is that UEFA essentially demands all power (not dissimilar to the Catholic Church during the early Middle Ages) and reacts very angrily to any other suggestion. Add to that that media powers like Sky will want a big bite as well. They look for the highest profits and teams from Norway, the Ukraine, Bulgaria, Wales and the like are left out there to starve on a minor life support.

As it is now, all parties - and not least UEFA - seem to be very happy and only adjust the competitions minimally, to address the vain cries from the starving.

 

But we divert from the topic.