THE SPFL are tomorrow expected to announce that no further action will be taken against Rangers with regards to the club’s use of the controversial EBT tax scheme which means there is little prospect of any title stripping.
League bosses hope the decision will allow Scottish football to move forward but there is zero chance those who continue to campaign for Rangers to be punished furthered will drop their arguments.
Indeed, such calls are likely become more vocal if the SPFL refuse to order an official review into a matter which has dominated the football news agenda in this country for more than five years.
It is believed recommendations will be announced on Wednesday to guard against a repeat of what happened to the Ibrox club but that will be viewed as puny by many supporters of the other clubs, most notably Celtic.
The SPFL's new board met on Monday, following its annual elections, and one of the new members, Ann Budge, the owner of Hearts, said she hoped the decision would allow the game in the country to move on, which would appear to suggest that no review would take place and the matter, as far as the league were concerned, was over.
Asked on the steps at Hampden Park about what had been decided by the board, Mrs Budge said: “We have discussed it at some length. You will get a full explanation on Wednesday. Has a decision been reached? A decision… no, there are recommendations, which I think you’ll fully understand on Wednesday.
“Yes, I am (satisfied it would be the end of the matter). We need to look forward and do what is best for Scottish football.
“We had to look at all of the facts thoroughly. It is a brand-new board and I think to come out with something now (on Monday) would be a big ask. Are the considerations ongoing? Yes. We had a lot of discussions today and there will be a statement on Wednesday.”
Earlier this month, a Supreme Court ruling went in in favour of HM Revenue and Customs in their case against Rangers’ use of Employee Benefit Trusts between 2001 and 2010.
The SPFL sought the advice of several independent lawyers and the overall feeling was there would not be much of a case if further action were taken against Rangers.
It is understood that outside of Celtic there is not a huge demand by any other club, at least in the boardroom, to pursue title stripping. Indeed, Aberdeen chairman Stewart Milne risked the wrath of many of his club’s own supporters by making an appeal at the weekend of the game in this country to move on.
However, in the wake of the recent Supreme Court ruling, Celtic said they expected the SPFL to review the 2013 decision that Rangers "did not gain any unfair competitive advantage" which is the crux of the matter.
A SPL commission into the club's use of EBTs, headed by Lord Nimmo-Smith, found Rangers to be in breach of player registration rules but that did not mean that any of the 14 titles won by them during this period would be taken away.
But, crucially to those who believe the behaviour of Rangers under the leadership of Sir David Murray was tantamount to cheating, that judgement was made at a time when the scheme was deemed acceptable by a 2012 tax tribunal.
Ralph Topping, the outgoing SPFL said two weeks that ago that he was confident any legal challenges to ‘EBT era’ trophies won by Gers would be blocked and the nothing has changed since he made those remarks.
“In these circumstances, you have to rely on legal minds,” said Topping. “We have not gone to a solicitor in Arbroath. We have gone to the finest solicitor in the land and taken his view, which we were duty bound to do. He has given us what we think is very sound legal advice.
“We sat with [the SPFL’s solicitor] on what must have been four occasions – and he was challenged from everyone. We wanted to make sure we were ready for any challenges subsequently. And I think we are.
“That won’t stop people having views. It won’t stop people talking about it for years to come. It’s useless to say keep quiet. The fact is they won’t.
“There are a lot of wealthy people who support football clubs who will fund certain activities around challenges. The authorities just have to accept it and be measured in their response.”
The new SPFL board, revealed yesterday, includes Stewart Robertson, the Rangers managing director, but he was not believed to have had any say in the decision given it his clear conflict of interest.
Elected to serve on the 2016/17 board – alongside SPFL Chief Executive Neil Doncaster, new SPFL Chairman Murdoch MacLennan and independent non-executive director Karyn McCluskey were Budge, Robertson and Les Gray of Hamilton Academical.
The Championship representatives are Martin Ritchie (Falkirk) and Warren Hawke (Morton), and from League one and two, Ian Dougan of Stranraer.
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