Sport: Rangers charged by SFA over tax bill
● Ibrox club question motives behind citing over historic Uefa licence breach
Rangers say they will “fiercely resist” two charges made against them by the Scottish FA in relation to the licence they were granted to play in European football seven years ago.
After an eight-month long investigation by Scottish FA Compliance Officer Tony Mcglennan, a notice of complaint was issued to Rangers yesterday.
The first charge details an alleged breach of Scottish FA articles of association which were in place in 2010-11 regarding compliance with Uefa and Fifa regulations. The second charge alleges a breach of Article 1 of the 2011-12 Judicial Panel Protocol which includes the requirement for clubs to “observe the principles of loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship” and to “behave towards the Scottish FA and other members with the utmost good faith”.
Rangers have until next Tuesday 22 May, to formally respond to the notice of complaint with a principal hearing scheduled for 26 June. If found guilty, potential punishments range from a fine to the termination of Scottish FA membership. But Rangers have questioned the motives behind the Scottish FA’S action and insist it has “no reasonable prospect of success”.
The charges stem from the Scottish FA’S decision to grant Rangers a Uefa competition licence for the 2011-12 season, during Craig Whyte’s ultimately ruinous ownership of the club. Uefa regulations require all competing clubs to be liable for no overdue payments to relevant tax authorities in the country, although licence applications are permitted if the amounts of those payments are in dispute.
At the time of their application in 2011, Rangers stated they had no overdue taxes but that they were in dispute over their liabilities from the Discounted Option Scheme – which became referred to as the “Wee Tax Case” – operated under Sir David Murray’s ownership of the club from 2000 to 2002.
But during the seven-week trial of Whyte last year, when he was found not guilty of obtaining Rangers from Murray by fraud, testimony emerged which indicated the club knew the tax bill was overdue in November 2010.
Rangers entered the Champions League in the third qualifying round in 2011, losing 2-1 on aggregate to Malmo, then dropped into the play-off round of the Europa League where they lost 3-2 on aggregate to Maribor. The following February, Rangers were placed in administration by Whyte, leading to liquidation and the sale of its business, assets and Scottish FA membership to a consortium headed by Charles Green.
In their statement reacting to the notice of complaint
“Scottish football is being directed by individuals intent on harming the Scottish game, rangers and its supporters”
yesterday, Rangers claimed the Scottish FA had in fact agreed that accusations made over the granting of the 2011 Uefa licence were groundless, with the charges relating to the monitoring period after it was issued.
The Ibrox club have also accused those at the helm of the Scottish FA of being “intent on harming the Scottish game” by bringing the charges against them.
“The Rangers Football Club was informed today by the Scottish FA that, after an eight-and-a-half month investigation, the SFA will not be proceeding with a Notice of Complaint in respect of the submission made by the club to the SFA at the end of March 2011 with regard to the issue of the club’s Uefa licence for the following season,” read the statement.
“The club is unsurprised that it has now finally been accepted by the SFA that the accusations made against the club were groundless. The club questions whether the time, cost and expense of this investigation was justified and was a good use of the SFA’S limited resources.
“Disappointingly, and presumably rather than accept that the investigation was a waste of all parties’ time and resources, the club has been served with a new revised Notice of Complaint relating to the monitoring period subsequent to the grant of the UEFA licence. This new Notice of Complaint neglects to properly capture the provisions of prior agreements made between the club and the SFA.
“The club will fiercely resist this reconstructed Notice of Complaint. Unfortunately, monies that should be available to Scottish youth and grassroots football will be diverted into another rehearsal of seven-year-old debates on the rights and wrongs of events that the SFA should have prevented at a time when doing so would have served a useful purpose.
“It seems that Scottish football is, once again, being directed by individuals intent on harming the Scottish game, Rangers Football Club and its supporters by pursuing a course that has no sensible purpose or reasonable prospect of success.”