Political interference in Scottish football?
Part 1 – The Case of Alex Salmond
One thing’s quietly emerging if you probe enough – and that’s the ever-so-gentlemanly turf war being fought over Ibrox, well away from Ibrox.
The Scottish Football Association boss Stewart Regan broke cover to me three days back, responding to questions from Channel 4 News about why Alex Salmond phoned HMRC on 11 Jan to ask about the Rangers’ tax position.
Mr Regan made it clear he did not want to get into specifics on this. But equally made it plain there is a heightened sense at the SFA’s Hampden Park HQ that Scotland’s politicians have rolled their tanks onto the SFA’s lawn. The SFA want them off.
He wrote:
“I have already spoken to the Sports Minister, Shona Robinson some weeks ago about the Scottish Government’s involvement in football matters and reminded her of the need to let football govern and regulate its own affairs without interference, especially in light of FIFA’s views on this issue.”
FIFA’s views on the issue of political interference into football clubs being very public and widely known.
Mr Salmond’s people vehemently deny it was political “interference” The First Minister’s Office say the 11 Jan call:
“…centred on securing a settlement to enable Rangers to meet their obligations to the taxpayer and continue in business.”
They say they thus acted in the public interest. That’s that. No story.
But in football politics things are rarely so straightforward. Clearly Mr Regan, still relatively new at the SFA, sees political interference and is concerned enough to write to the Sports Minister, asking for it to stop please.
Moreover, what matters is how UEFA, European Football’s governing body, sees actions like these? Michel Platini has made great hay during his tenure as UEFA boss, of financial fair play. In public UEFA can do little more than pledge support to the SFA and Rangers. In private they are angry and embarrassed at the unfolding Rangers mess. Rangers, frankly, is a big blot on their landscape.
Not least, because the club was of course the first in Scotland to get a licence in 2003 for – amongst other things – financial good housekeeping, when as we now know it was as much a casino as a football club. All this in now unfolding, UEFA know and they are unamused.
And along with financial fair play comes political interference which has seen FIFA – football’s world governing body – take strong action against some member countries with meddling politicians.
The question of Scottish politicians getting involved with both the taxman and administrators over Rangers was described to me as “difficult and complex” by UEFA’s press office on the record. So difficult and complex that I’ve waited three days to get any answer and have thus far failed. Away from their press office one official spoke on condition of anonymity and said “we are concerned, we have all this in our sights but the key agency here is the SFA”. Clearly the SFA do too.
Even though Mr Salmond has spoken about this phone call in a TV interview with Al Jazeera and it’s been reported in the press, there’s still great official secrecy shrouding what was actually said, which to this day has not been cleared up.
According to a recent Freedom of Information request, details relating to the call cannot be made public according to Holyrood officials because it would “prejudice substantially” relations between Scottish and UK governments.
Yet, a couple of lines later, the same official – Patrick Berry – who wrote that, claims the information wouldn’t greatly add anything to public knowledge.
Well Patrick – which is it? Either it’s substantially prejudicial or it’s not going to add to our knowledge but it certainly can’t be both.
Curiouser and curiouser.
As for the First Minister, his staff quite rightly point out that he’s spoken to HMRC with regard to other companies in trouble. But how many of them potentially owed the taxpayer £75 million?
Equally the argument that RFC is somehow another Ravenscraig, a victim of external forces and circumstance where the First Minister must act, would surely be open to question by some?
RFC owes Big Tax already. It could soon owe Vast Tax. RFC created the mess RFC is in. Nobody else. And I can tell you first hand that UEFA is deeply unhappy at the mess. As, no doubt is Alex Salmond.
If RFC lose the Big Tax Case many honest taxpayers will say the last thing it deserves is survival. Holyrood would say what matters is the best deal for the taxpayer. And so would the HMRC.
So Alex Salmond’s damned whatever he does. Fail to act and you look like you don’t care. Act and you’ve the minefield of national and international football politics to contend with.
To say nothing of the fans, divided as ever.