SFA chief Maxwell is keen to talk with King
IAN MAXWELL last night opened the door to talks with Rangers chairman Dave King as he defended the SFA’s independence in the wake of the Gary Hughes furore. The Hampden chief executive has dismissed a call from Ibrox for a review into whether Hughes had any influence on the notice of complaint delivered to the club over their 2011 UEFA licence. But Maxwell, who began work just a fortnight ago, also stressed his desire for dialogue to try to improve relations throughout Scottish football. King had called for Hughes to be suspended as an independent non-executive SFA director after the emergence of a 2006 article in which he referred to Rangers fans as ‘the great
unwashed’. The former publishing executive — a self-confessed Celtic supporter — opted to stand down earlier this week and not seek re-election at yesterday’s AGM.
Maxwell insists he saw nothing but good practice from Hughes, but he made it clear he would be open to discussions with South Africa-based King to try to cool the air of conflict.
‘I think as chief exec of the Scottish FA, my job is to have a relationship with all the chairmen,’ said Maxwell. ‘I think that is a fundamental part.
‘Regardless of the club, it should be about being open, going and meeting them. We will not always agree on things and that is part of the territory.
‘It’s about not focusing on one individual club, but the whole of Scottish football needs to know that open dialogue is available.
‘Is it a difficult moment? It is part of a governing body that things happen that people aren’t overly enamoured about.
‘I am obviously very early in the job. I’ve got a good relationship with (Rangers managing director) Stewart Robertson and (finance chief) Andrew Dickson. I have known them for a long time now. I’ve spoken to Stewart since I got the job a few times about different things.
‘I think in an ideal world you would have a different type of dialogue. It would be more personal, more like picking up the phone and having the conversation, rather than the way it’s been played out.
‘But, listen, that’s fine. It’s going to take a bit of time to get to that point. We’re not at that point yet.’
In a statement on Tuesday, Rangers made it clear they still wanted answers from the SFA about Hughes — in particular whether he had input to the UEFA licence charges they described as ‘ridiculous’.
Maxwell said he was not aware of any formal request having arrived at Hampden, but he doesn’t see grounds for an investigation.
‘No, there is no need,’ he said. ‘The way the notice of complaint works is that the board instruct the compliance officer to review an incident, any incident, and the compliance officer is then completely independent from that point and decides whether there is a case to answer or there’s not.
‘Obviously, he decided, yes, there was a case to answer and that is now going through the process.
‘But I have seen nothing other than total independence from both the independents on the board. Not to say the other board members aren’t, but because obviously that is in their title.’
King has also questioned whether other ‘SFA individuals’ were aware of the Hughes article prior to his appointment in 2015.
Asked whether there was anything to support a suggestion of a cover-up, Maxwell added: ‘Not as far as I’m aware. It was a previous regime that dealt with it.
‘There was an appointment panel at the time that dealt with it and they’ve continued with the appointment. So, no. Not as far as I know.’
Entrepreneur Ana Stewart was yesterday re-elected as the other independent nonexecutive director on the SFA board, with the hunt beginning for a successor to Hughes.
Maxwell does not believe the recent furore will deter potential candidates and he sees no need for declarations of what team they might support.
‘I don’t think that’s relevant,’ said Maxwell. ‘If we’re going down an independent director road, and we’re trying to get a person that has never been to a match, that severely limits the options open to us.
‘Those who are not interested in Scottish football aren’t going to help drive the game forward. That’s not what it’s about.
‘Gary made no secret of the fact he has been a Celtic fan for a long time.
‘Listen, that was a decision made. He was given the position. Now, though, he doesn’t want to stand for re-election, so that’s down to him. You just need to take each individual on their merits.’
The SFA yesterday announced a turnover for 2017 of £38.4million, enabling £10.4m to be distributed across the country. There is, however, a pressing need to tie up new sponsorship contracts and agree a Scottish Cup television deal.
‘(Commercial director) Chris Rawlings and his guys have been working really hard over the summer on renewals on the deals that have lapsed,’ said Maxwell.
‘The broadcast deal, in terms of the Scottish Cup, we hope to be in a position — whether it is a few weeks or a month, to say we have a deal for that.’