CAMPBELL OGILVIE, president of the Scottish Football Association, last night expressed his disappointment at "an apparent erosion of mutual respect between two of our oldest rivals" after revealing no action would be taken by the governing body regarding a joke made by Peter Lawwell, the Celtic chief executive, on the status of Rangers.
The Ibrox club had made a formal complaint to the SFA following comments made by Lawwell at Celtic's annual general meeting last week. Asked by a shareholder why Rangers were still being called by the same name by the authorities following their liquidation, Lawwell replied using an analogy: "Rory Bremner can pretend to be Tony Blair". Those comments infuriated Rangers who said their history was not up for debate. "The club are disappointed with the comments attributed to Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell earlier today," read a statement. "Rangers FC, now in its 141st year, has a proud history which has been recognised by the football authorities and was noted in a recent SPL Commission determination. The club will now take this matter up with the relevant football authorities."
The SFA have now considered the case, with the compliance officer Vincent Lunny believing there had been no actionable breach of the rules. Ogilvie, though, took the opportunity to reprimand both clubs for wasting Lunny's time, while calling on them to try to "set the highest standards".
"The compliance officer has informed both clubs that there is no actionable breach of the rules. None the less, I am compelled to convey my disappointment that we find ourselves in this position, as a result of an apparent erosion of mutual respect between two of our oldest rivals," said Ogilvie in a statement.
"At a time when Scottish football faces challenges on many fronts, it is incumbent on our biggest clubs to set the highest standards. In this regard both the comments made, and the subsequent time, effort and resource imposed on our compliance officer to deal with the complaint, were wholly unnecessary."
Earlier in the day, Neil Lennon, the Celtic manager, had said he felt the matter was "a hoo-ha over nothing". "It is a storm in a tea cup, no more than that," Lennon said. "It was a throwaway remark [from Lawwell]. You have to be so PC these days, regarding a lot of topics. I know from my own experience, I have said a few things in the past and suffered from it. It is a hoo-ha over nothing."
His Rangers counterpart, Ally McCoist, had chosen not to offer his thoughts on the subject.
"The club has put a letter to the SFA so it would be wrong of me to comment on it," said McCoist at the time. "I've got enough on my plate without concerning myself with the Celtic agm."
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