Giovanni di stefano letter to scotland first minister re rangers fc

[ian1964 10,514]

20 March 2012:

Mr Alex Salmond

Office of the First Minister

St. Andrew's House

Regent Road

Edinburgh EH1 3DG Email: FirstMinister@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

20 March 2012

Dear First Minister

Re: Rangers FC

First of all let me send my compliments and greetings to you and I wish you every success in your campaign for a Referendum of the Scottish people.

You will no doubt have read and be well aware of the situation with Rangers FC. I sincerely hope and remain optimistic that the Emir of Qatar and his family will take an express interest in acquiring what I deem to be â??the best buy in European footballâ?.

You will no doubt also be aware of my previous involvement in Dundee Football Club which, although some of the media misrepresented, I am pleased to say that there is now a truly good possibility of the Club being restored to its premiere position. The Club, like many others, suffered the pitfalls of Administration, which may well have been avoided.

This whole matter regarding football has inspired me to consider the political position of football generally and the relationship between sport and politics. Technically speaking, I agree with you, when you once stated that there should be no connection. However, since most sporting entities are in fact commercial enterprises, I am honoured to draw your attention to the Historic Environment (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2011.

May I specifically draw your attention to s. 12, which is headed â??Development and understanding of matters of historic, etc. interest: Grants and loansâ?. I have the honour of citing the Act below.

12 Development and understanding of matters of historic, etc. interest: grants and loans After section 45 of the 1979 Act insertâ??

Studio Legale Internazionale

â??45ADevelopment and understanding of matters of historic, etc. interest: grants and loans (1)The Scottish Ministers may make grants or loans for the purpose of defraying in whole or in part any expenditure incurred, or to be incurredâ?? (a)in or in connection with; (b)with a view to the promotion of, the development or understanding of matters of historic, architectural, traditional, artistic or archaeological interest. (2)A grant or loan under this section may be made subject to such conditions (including conditions as to repayment) as the Scottish Ministers consider appropriate. (3)Without prejudice to any powers of the Scottish Ministers under any enactment (including this Act), the total amount of grants and loans which may be made under this section must not exceed £100,000 in any one year period.â?.

May I specifically refer you to s. 45A(1)(b), which deals with the promotion and development or understanding of matters that are of historic, architectural, traditional, artistic or archaeological interest.

Section 45A(2) allows the Scottish Ministers (plural) the powers of granting loans or â??grantsâ? as they deem appropriate.

In my respectful submission, there is no greater need today than for this legislation to be adopted for a grant and/or loan to Rangers Football Club and any other Club within Scottish football on the basis that it is compliant with s. 45A(1)(b).

Namely, unarguable that Rangers Football Club and other Clubs need the development and that they are matters indeed of historic, traditional, artistic and possibly even architectural nature.

It may interest you to know that the legislation, for example, in Italy, permits local councils awarding grants/loans to Football Clubs within their administrative communities. This has safeguarded many of the smaller clubs and avoided bankruptcies, thus stabilising the league.

Since the government has, for example, intervened in the RBS to the tune of over £44 billion, and it is shameful that this year the bank has reported over a £3 billion loss, there is no reason why the Historic Environment (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2011 should not be used to award applicant Football Clubs financial assistance from the government since most of the clubs in Scotland are invariably 100 years, or more, old.

It is without a doubt that, for example, Rangers Football Club, carries an importance within the community. The Act deals with the promotion and development of such entities.

I am of course aware that prima facie s. 45A(3) seems to limit any government intervention to £100,000 which may be of little use to Rangers FC, but may be a saving grace for other clubs. However, the said section is caveated with the words â??without prejudice to any powers of the Scottish Ministers under any enactmentâ?.

The Scottish Ministers in my view have the powers to intervene and can, for example, even today, in the case of Rangers FC grant sufficient funding for the Club to pay taxes that are due, or any other government levies.

Of course, all legislation has to be adopted and used in a responsible manner.

If RBS can benefit to the tune of more than £44 billion and to date it has produced a loss of £3 billion, and certainly has no historic interest, retained no traditional values in banking, and its development or understanding can only but be described by many companies that have been bankrupted as a result of its activities, why, then, can Rangers Football Club not be assisted now by legislation that was enacted to assist these kind of unfortunate circumstances?

I would, thus, invite you to consider at the very least this possibility and, if necessary, form a select committee on an urgent basis to review whether this option should be available to the football community.

I extend my compliments and greetings as usual.

Yours sincerely

Giovanni Di Stefano

STUDIO LEGALE INTERNAZIONALE

 

http://www.studiolegaleinternazionale.com/blogHome2.php?blogPage=1&blogDate=2012-03-20+16%3A48%3A18

[BrahimHemdani 1]

I have had some dealings with the Civil Servant who has to respond to the letters addressed to Mr Salmond about Rangers and the mind boggles as to how he will reply to this nonsense.

[bluebear54 0]

I have had some dealings with the Civil Servant who has to respond to the letters addressed to Mr Salmond about Rangers and the mind boggles as to how he will reply to this nonsense.

 

I would think it would be quite straightforward. Something like "If you're suggesting that civic Scotland should subsidise shysters like you or Craig Whyte, I'm afraid you're barking up the wrong tree, pal. However should his Eminence, the Emir of Qatar, see fit to invest in RFC, we would be fully supportive of any positive business plan to maintain the position of RFC as the most successful Club in Scottish football."

[BrahimHemdani 1]

I would think it would be quite straightforward. Something like "If you're suggesting that civic Scotland should subsidise shysters like you or Craig Whyte, I'm afraid you're barking up the wrong tree, pal. However should his Eminence, the Emir of Qatar, see fit to invest in RFC, we would be fully supportive of any positive business plan to maintain the position of RFC as the most successful Club in Scottish football."

 

Very good, I'll pass that along!

[GovanAllan 0]

At least it gave me a laugh.

[bluebear54 0]

At least it gave me a laugh.

 

And a laugh is what we're all needing these days.

[der Berliner 3,363]

Well, I collected a few funny lines over the years (mostly from FF). No need for an ex-Dundee director:

 

A blind man on a galloping horse would have seen that!

 

The "8-7 to Celtic" guy sounded like a right banana-skin smoker.

 

I seriously would hope not as N'Gog is utter sh1te or has been anytime I've seen him and couldn't finish his dinner. (Walter Smith being at Anfield)

 

My oh my, he's about as popular at the Glue Camp as a rap band at a KKK rally. (On the discredited journalist)

 

Darrell King's contributions to Clyde leave a bad taste in the mouth, but your average Clyde listener doesn't need any encouragement to be a paranoid wreck.

 

I'd rather he stayed to be honest. Not once in his career has he had a blinder against us. He holds onto the ball too long and has an end product like a sandwich maker with Parkinsons. (About Traitor O'Gheady's transfer to Russia)