Stewart Regan: SFA has nothing to fear over Rangers' disputed European license

[ian1964 10,724]

Stewart Regan: SFA did nothing wrong with Resolution 12 - Celtic fans should take it up with UEFA

 

CHIEF exec Stewart Regan insists the SFA did nothing wrong by allowing Rangers to play in Europe in 2011 and told any Celtic fans still unhappy with the decision to take it up with UEFA. The Ibrox club were given a license to play in the Champions League five years ago despite owing £2.8m to HMRC relating to their use of the infamous EBT scheme, a bill that became known as the “Wee Tax Case”.

 

UEFA rules state clubs taking part in their competitions must declare any "overdue payables" to the taxman and reveal details on whether there is a commitment to repay amounts, or a dispute over any bill. That prompted some Celtic shareholders - known as the requisitioners - to raise the matter at the club's 2013 AGM, believing the Parkhead outfit had lost out on millions of potential revenue that would have been due to them had they taken Rangers' place in the Champions League that year.

 

Some Celtic supporters even took the unusual step of placing an advert in a Swiss newspaper yesterday urging UEFA to intervene in the matter dubbed “Resolution 12”. But Regan revealed the SFA have been in dialogue with Celtic on this issue for the past three years and insisted the governing body had acted entirely in accordance with the rules.

 

He said: "It’s our understanding that the requisitioners accept that there are no issues with the granting of the license to Rangers. Where they do have an issue is in what’s called the monitoring period, immediately after the granting of the license to Rangers. Our position on that monitoring period is that we have fully complied with all of the UEFA regulations and requirements during that period.

 

“We have said that if the requisitioners are still not happy they should take it up with UEFA. We’ve supplied the email addresses and contact details of the people that the requisitioners need to speak to and I don’t know if the requisitioners have made contact with them yet but they have told us that is their intention. We've said if they do that then we'll fully cooperate and comply with any requests for information from UEFA and we've provided details at UEFA for the requisitioners to make contact. So we believe that the matter has been communicated to those involved and they will deal with it as they see fit. Our position hasn’t changed on this since 2013 and we’ve been in dialogue with Celtic since then on this point.”

 

Regan, meanwhile, also revealed he has been repeatedly asked about scenes at the recent Scottish Cup final when a number of Rangers players and staff were attacked by Hibs supporters who came on to the pitch at the final whistle. An independent commission will now look into all aspects of the pitch invasion and report back at the end of next month and Regan hoped long-lasting lessons would be learned from it.

 

He added: “Most people who were there or witnessed the television footage have spoken to me and expressed their concerns. It wasn’t just the behaviour on the pitch but the behaviour in the stands and the abuse people were getting. There were a lot of things unpleasant about the whole event and we must make sure we learn from it.

 

“Of all the cup finals that took place on May 21 - in England, France and Spain - it was ours that ended up on the front pages of newspapers and on television screens across the world and for the wrong reasons. We don’t want that. For the sake of our reputation we don’t want that, so there are people who desperately want to see changes. Consultation is the starting point. I think there are a vast number of our member clubs who are also sick and tired of how Scottish football gets dragged through the mud when we have major events like this taking place.”

 

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/14530543.Regan__SFA_did_nothing_wrong_with_Res_12___Celtic_fans_should_take_it_up_with_UEFA/

[barca72 440]

Stewart Regan: SFA did nothing wrong with Resolution 12 - Celtic fans should take it up with UEFA

 

CHIEF exec Stewart Regan insists the SFA did nothing wrong by allowing Rangers to play in Europe in 2011 and told any Celtic fans still unhappy with the decision to take it up with UEFA. The Ibrox club were given a license to play in the Champions League five years ago despite owing £2.8m to HMRC relating to their use of the infamous EBT scheme, a bill that became known as the “Wee Tax Case”.

 

UEFA rules state clubs taking part in their competitions must declare any "overdue payables" to the taxman and reveal details on whether there is a commitment to repay amounts, or a dispute over any bill. That prompted some Celtic shareholders - known as the requisitioners - to raise the matter at the club's 2013 AGM, believing the Parkhead outfit had lost out on millions of potential revenue that would have been due to them had they taken Rangers' place in the Champions League that year.

 

Some Celtic supporters even took the unusual step of placing an advert in a Swiss newspaper yesterday urging UEFA to intervene in the matter dubbed “Resolution 12”. But Regan revealed the SFA have been in dialogue with Celtic on this issue for the past three years and insisted the governing body had acted entirely in accordance with the rules.

 

He said: "It’s our understanding that the requisitioners accept that there are no issues with the granting of the license to Rangers. Where they do have an issue is in what’s called the monitoring period, immediately after the granting of the license to Rangers. Our position on that monitoring period is that we have fully complied with all of the UEFA regulations and requirements during that period.

 

“We have said that if the requisitioners are still not happy they should take it up with UEFA. We’ve supplied the email addresses and contact details of the people that the requisitioners need to speak to and I don’t know if the requisitioners have made contact with them yet but they have told us that is their intention. We've said if they do that then we'll fully cooperate and comply with any requests for information from UEFA and we've provided details at UEFA for the requisitioners to make contact. So we believe that the matter has been communicated to those involved and they will deal with it as they see fit. Our position hasn’t changed on this since 2013 and we’ve been in dialogue with Celtic since then on this point.”

 

Regan, meanwhile, also revealed he has been repeatedly asked about scenes at the recent Scottish Cup final when a number of Rangers players and staff were attacked by Hibs supporters who came on to the pitch at the final whistle. An independent commission will now look into all aspects of the pitch invasion and report back at the end of next month and Regan hoped long-lasting lessons would be learned from it.

 

He added: “Most people who were there or witnessed the television footage have spoken to me and expressed their concerns. It wasn’t just the behaviour on the pitch but the behaviour in the stands and the abuse people were getting. There were a lot of things unpleasant about the whole event and we must make sure we learn from it.

 

“Of all the cup finals that took place on May 21 - in England, France and Spain - it was ours that ended up on the front pages of newspapers and on television screens across the world and for the wrong reasons. We don’t want that. For the sake of our reputation we don’t want that, so there are people who desperately want to see changes. Consultation is the starting point. I think there are a vast number of our member clubs who are also sick and tired of how Scottish football gets dragged through the mud when we have major events like this taking place.” http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/14530543.Regan__SFA_did_nothing_wrong_with_Res_12___Celtic_fans_should_take_it_up_with_UEFA/

 

Then deal with it appropriately this time. Step out from the shadow of Liewell, Riley, Thompson and Petrie and impose authority on the situation, or just leave.

[ian1964 10,724]

 

[BEARGER 1,830]

 

 

They are truly obsessed and mad.

[JFK-1 1,693]

I like it, it's indicative of the fact that sanity is a distant memory and maybe a never experienced state for some of them. It further marginalises them, they now even have a T shirt saying i'm a proud fringe nutcase obsessive.

Edited June 6, 2016 by JFK-1

[gisabeer 409]

we shuold do a penn state justice t shirt.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

These things always end up with a celtc fan or 2 getting rich off the deluded rangers haters.

 

There's always a book or a t shirt to be bought.

Edited June 7, 2016 by the gunslinger

[jhunter 0]

I'm not surprised by the actual TShirt , more that it doesn't contain a sectarian slur.

[SteveC 150]

 

 

Smallest size is "large", I note...

[Bluedell 5,627]

He added: “Most people who were there or witnessed the television footage have spoken to me and expressed their concerns. It wasn’t just the behaviour on the pitch but the behaviour in the stands and the abuse people were getting. There were a lot of things unpleasant about the whole event and we must make sure we learn from it..

 

Sounds like they are getting ready to spread the blame and water down the seriousness of the assaults. No surprise/