SFA could be forced to shut Ibrox club down for good

[ian1964 10,457]

THE SFA were last night threatening to shut Rangers down for good after the clubâ??s administrators backed them into a corner in the Court of Session.

 

Despite successfully overturning a hugely controversial 12-month transfer ban, Duff and Phelps also triggered a full-scale FIFA probe into the escalating Scottish crisis.

 

News of Judge Lord Glennieâ??s decision to rule against Hampdenâ??s top brass has infuriated the gameâ??s governing body in Switzerland.

 

And, as a result, last night FIFA were preparing to wade into the saga by threatening to go to war with the entire Scottish game unless Rangersâ?? bungling administrators are forced to back down.

 

FIFAâ??s furious response â?? almost identical to the stance they took during a courtroom battle involving Swiss side Sion last season â?? could see Craig Leveinâ??s national side booted out of the next World Cup and Celtic denied a £15million ticket into next termâ??s Champions League.

 

Motherwell could also be robbed of their chance to secure a spot among the European elite while Dundee United, Hearts and St Johnstone have been left to sweat over their own money-spinning places into the Europa League.

 

Very quickly the courtroom triumph was beginning to look like the hollowest of victories imaginable for Duff and Phelps, who may have left the SFA with little choice but to dish out an even heftier punishment for the rule breaches carried out by the Craig Whyte regime.

 

In fact, fears were growing inside Hampden last night that crisis-ravaged Rangers may have to be sacrificed, and have their SFA membership terminated, in order to spare the rest of the national game from FIFAâ??s wrath.

 

In an official statement from Switzerland, the gameâ??s governors said they had not yet been informed of the row by the SFA.

 

But a senior source inside Sepp Blatterâ??s Nyon bunker told Record Sport FIFA are now prepared to fight tooth and nail, just as they did last season when Sion famously rebelled against the gameâ??s authorities over their place in the Europa League.

 

And a spokesman warned: â??In such a case, FIFA will ask the Member Association to take action so that the club withdraws its request from the ordinary courts.

 

â??As a rule, in case a club is seeking redress in front of ordinary court, the Member Association shall take action to safeguard the principle laid down in art. 64 par. 2 of FIFA Statutes, which shall be, in view of art. 64 par. 3 incorporated in the Member Associationsâ?? Statutes.

 

â??FIFA will now closely monitor the situation so that the issue is resolved as fast as possible.â?

 

Lord Glennie judged yesterday that the SFAâ??s judicial panel had acted outwith its own remit when it hammered Rangers with a year long ban from signing players. He also ordered the matter be placed back in front of the SFAâ??s appeals tribunal for urgent review.

 

But, having insisted that Whyteâ??s mishandling of affairs were so shameful that only match fixing would have been looked upon more seriously â?? the SFA have now been backed into a corner with almost no room to manoeuvre.

 

The decision to impose a 12-month embargo was seen as a compromise and a way to avoid having to take the ultimate sanction of booting Rangers out of the game.

 

But now, unless Duff and Phelps or Charles Green accept the original sanction the same appeals tribunal will have to choose between softening the punishment to include a possible ban from next termâ??s Scottish Cup â?? or taking the ultimate hard line by ripping up the clubâ??s membership and banishing them into the wilderness.

 

But all of that was lost on the administrators yesterday who seemed to believe they had struck a blow for justice in the Court of Session.

 

Paul Clark said: â??We welcome the decision by Judge Lord Glennie today that vindicates the Clubâ??s position that the original SFA judicial panel tribunal and the appellate tribunal acted beyond their powers in imposing a transfer embargo on the Club.

 

â??The costs for this legal action have been awarded against the SFA and it is very regrettable that court action was required.

 

â??We, and the SFA, will study the full ramifications of the judgment when it is published and either side has 21 days to decide the next course of action or whether to appeal.â?

 

An SFA spokesperson later said: â??We are surprised by todayâ??s verdict at the Court of Session, especially since the original sanction against Rangers FC was imposed by an independent panel chaired by a leading QC and upheld by an appellate tribunal chaired by a Supreme Court judge.

 

â??We will now consider our position with our legal advisers before making any further comment.â?

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/2012/05/30/rangers-in-crisis-sfa-could-be-forced-to-shut-ibrox-club-down-for-good-86908-23878683/

[kuznetsov 0]

The mhedia are hurting, tims are panicking and all our detractors are sweating.

[Tannochsidebear 2,321]

I'm laughing my head off here at the suggestion they would boot us out, given that without us they have no tv contract, no sponsors, no worthwhile league whatsoever.

 

However pissed they might be that they draconian punishments they thought they could get away with because we have no history of fighting back against them have now been thrown out by the first impartial court to hear them, they must now realise that they have went too far this time and Regan must back down.

 

It will be interesting to note that Regan quickly backed down over the Lennon punishment when told they couldnt win an outside court case, but now he has actually lost a proper court case, he is talking about fighting it? His motives must be called into question by his peers.

[andy steel 0]

"And a spokesman warned: “In such a case, FIFA will ask the Member Association to take action so that the club withdraws its request from the ordinary courts."

 

Lucky the request has been sent back from the ordinary courts to the SFA's kangaroo one, then, isn't it? How can they possibly not have noticed this? Really, what a load of nonsense. There's more than enough meat in this story, surely, for the Record to fill a dozen pages without resorting to febble attempts at scaremongering.

[Craigy1881 79]

So let me get this right, nobody is questioning the fact that FIFA seem happy that one of their governing bodies was willing to hand out an unlawful sanction that was not in their remit and also their rules did not allow for an appeal to CAS leaving the ONLY option to go via the courts. FIFA looking about as incompetent as the SFA here.

[Guest Bears R Us]

I'm laughing my head off here at the suggestion they would boot us out, given that without us they have no tv contract, no sponsors, no worthwhile league whatsoever.

 

However pissed they might be that they draconian punishments they thought they could get away with because we have no history of fighting back against them have now been thrown out by the first impartial court to hear them, they must now realise that they have went too far this time and Regan must back down.

 

It will be interesting to note that Regan quickly backed down over the Lennon punishment when told they couldnt win an outside court case, but now he has actually lost a proper court case, he is talking about fighting it? His motives must be called into question by his peers.

 

Yes indeed, what I cannot understand is why no media outlet (that I have seen) has spoken about the effect on Scottish football if we were expelled. Just the fact that we will be.

[TheWeeBlueDevil 0]

I'm laughing my head off here at the suggestion they would boot us out, given that without us they have no tv contract, no sponsors, no worthwhile league whatsoever.

 

However pissed they might be that they draconian punishments they thought they could get away with because we have no history of fighting back against them have now been thrown out by the first impartial court to hear them, they must now realise that they have went too far this time and Regan must back down.

 

It will be interesting to note that Regan quickly backed down over the Lennon punishment when told they couldnt win an outside court case, but now he has actually lost a proper court case, he is talking about fighting it? His motives must be called into question by his peers.

 

SFA's Regan on the Lurgan Bigot last year. >>> "However, with regard to the timing of the suspension we must accept that if our rules cannot be enforced in a court of law then they cannot be imposed and it is foolish to waste money defending such a point."

 

What a cunt Regan really is ..

[BlueMazza 0]

Is Celtic being booted out of the Champs League meant to make us feel bad? Surely that would be a wee Brucie bonus...

 

Seriously though, how nuts are the media just now.

[Juancornetto 1]

I like how having our SFA membership revoked must mean that Ibrox is shut down. I'm so glad I don't contribute to these rags survival.

 

If we were to have our membership terminated then it would then be perfectly plausible to apply for membership of another association wouldn't it?

[GovanAllan 0]

Jeez that's bad even by the Records poor standards.