King claims no gains from EBT

DAVE KING last night insisted that Rangers had not received a competitive advantage during the Employee Benefit Trust (EBT) years — and there was no need for a further review by Scottish football’s governing bodies. The Ibrox chairman also expressed his ‘disappointment’ at Celtic following their statement in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling in HMRC’s favour in the so-called ‘Big Tax Case’ earlier this week, with the Parkhead club seemingly

urging the SFA and SPFL to look again into the matter. ‘The Celtic board issued a statement agitating for a re-opening and reversal of the decisions previously made when, in fact, nothing has changed,’ said King. ‘It is disappointing that they have attempted to influence the footballing authorities to alter its historic football honours by calling on administrators and lawyers to achieve off the pitch what its teams failed to do on the pitch.’ King also suggested it was not Rangers but former chairman David Murray who benefited from the use of EBTs. ‘As an investor and board member during the period of the so-called benefit, I can categorically assure all supporters that the club received no benefit whatsoever,’ added King. ‘The opposite is true as the effect on the club was wholly negative. ‘It was charged huge sums for advice from other Murray Group entities and it bore the consequences when that advice proved inadequate. ‘Every single player who was signed during that period would have been signed whether the Murray Group tax scheme was in place or not. The real beneficiary was the Murray Group. ‘Put simply, the Murray Group tax scheme helped David Murray reduce his overall investment into Oldco while simultaneously reducing any reliance on increased third-party bank finance. The benefit went exclusively to David Murray and the Murray Group. ‘Whether the scheme was in place or not, or whether it survived tax scrutiny or not, made no difference whatsoever to the playing squad of the club during that period and hence had no impact on the performance on the pitch. ‘We won all of our titles fair and square. It is reassuring to note that the SFA promptly and correctly put out a statement confirming, against Celtic’s attempt to influence, that the final tax ruling has no impact whatsoever on the practical and legal findings already made. ‘This is now another matter that we can finally put behind us.’ Murray did not respond when asked for comment last night.