Massone and Co prove fit-and-proper check is vital

IN the list of the colourful and sometimes dodgy characters to pass through Scottish football, Angelo Massone barely scrapes into the top five. Giovanni di Stefano represented war criminals. Craig Whyte took the tax man to the cleaners. Charles Green could have taken the camel coat from Arthur Daley’s back with the wallet in it. Yet only Massone (right) was so dubious that even Vladimir Romanov refused to shake his hand. The Italian businessman’s introduction to Scottish football was the deal to take Shunsuke Nakamura from Italian club Reggina to Celtic in 2005. Within two years, he was threatening to take the Japanese maestro out of Glasgow because Celtic refused to sign any more of his clients. He next popped up in charge of Livingston. In a year of chaos, he left the West Lothian club with a mountain of debt — along with having their electricity cut off after failing to pay the bill. Two years ago, there was an attempt to return to Scottish football with a £4.5million bid for Hearts. Romanov didn’t get much right, but the decision to turn away a larger offer than Foundation of Hearts ever placed on the table was a redeeming end to his otherwise ruinous reign. When Massone turned his attentions to St Mirren, the Paisley board told him to keep walking. But throw enough jelly at the wall and something will stick. Massone finally purchased Ceahlaul in Romania. And this week, the chaos began again. He sacked former Inter Milan Brazil defender Ze Maria as manager — not once, but twice. In an interview with Italian paper Gazzetta dello Sport, Ze Maria accused Massone of xenophobic comments about Romanians and treating his players like slaves. The Ceahlaul dressing room is in revolt and the team are heading for relegation. None of this should come as a surprise. Massone’s charm can’t obscure the fact he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The SFA fit-and-proper process has some critics. Right now, it stands as a barrier to Dave King’s aspirations of a return to the Rangers boardroom and Ibrox fans would rather that wasn’t the case. But they exist for a number of sound reasons. Angelo Massone is one of them.