Rangers

FIFA warn Scottish FA they must act against Rangers for use of law courts

FIFA has warned the Scottish Football Association it must take action after Rangers' use of the law courts to challenge a registration embargo.

The Scottish Premier League side won a case at the Court of Session on Tuesday, with a judge ruling the Scottish FA had no power to impose a signing ban on the club for bringing the game into disrepute.

A statement from FIFA read: "At the time of writing we have not received any communication from the Scottish FA.

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

"As a general rule, in case a club is seeking redress in front of ordinary court, as mentioned above the Member Association shall take direct action in order 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 Associations’ Statutes.

"FIFA will closely monitor the situation so that the issue is resolved as fast as possible."

Rangers' case will now be referred back to the original appeal tribunal, which has been ordered to operate within the framework which exists.

Rule 66 allows for a maximum fine of £100,000 to be imposed, as well as ejection from the Scottish Cup, a suspension, expulsion from participation in the game and/or termination of SFA membership.

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There are 28 comments

Take note & understand (and if you want I will try to explain it in as simple terms for you as I can)

The SFA tribunal had several punishments available to them, suspension of player registrations was NOT one of these punishments - the SFA panel decided to use a punishment which was not available to them. Their appeals panel upheld the original punishment despite knowing that no such punishment was available to them, by their own rules they should have accepted the appeal & discarded the suspension.

The problem here is that Rangers proved that the suspension in player registrations was unlawful, now I appreciate for the intellectuals amongst you that Rangers are currently under investigation for improper use of tax loopholes, but ultimately the governing body broke the law in imposing the signing ban. FIFA are telling the SFA to "act" against Rangers for challenging not one but TWO illegal acts against them, so FIFA genuinely believe that they are above the law and that the SFA should consider themselves thus too? (Mind you, the SFA have been a law unto themselves for many years)

What FIFA will now be expecting the SFA to do is to impose a sanction from within the framework available to them - suspension from the SFA (harmful to them & WILL cost them sponsors), expulsion from the Scottish Cup (which I'd advocate Rangers not participating in anyway) or termination from the SFA (again, harmful to them & Scottish football).

bluenoseam 29/05/2012 Report this place
SFA have no option but to oblige or have its Footballing License revoked (including International Membership) Rangers have finally stirred the pot that much that the damage done is almost beyond repair.

The sanctions were not illegal they are only illegal on the opinion of Rangers and one judge you has confirmed if was his opinion and he has no jurisdiction.

Paulomagnifico 29/05/2012 Report this place
You don't understand it do you. The SFA had several punishments available to them

Fine - which they imposed, to maximum effect, not disputed at all.
Expel Rangers from the Scottish Cup - they decided not to impose knowing it would pretty much drop the asking price for sponsorship. (i have suggested that Rangers withdraw from this anyway)
Suspend Rangers membership of the SFA - they decided against this, no doubt again mindful of the fact it would greatly reduce marketing options.
Expel Rangers from the SFA - they decided against this deciding it was too harsh.

Now that's what they had to work with, there is NO room for improvisation in the rulebook, meaning the original panel went beyond their powers which IS what was disputed by Rangers. That's not "opinion" that's a fact, thus the initial ruling is voided given the fact it was NOT an option. The other thing is that Rangers had no option according to a journalist as the Judge's interpretation of the rule is that the SFA does NOT give right of appeal to the CAS.

https://twitter.com/#!/carasulieman

bluenoseam 29/05/2012 Report this place
No I do understand the SFA were entitled to impose any punishment they deemed necessary the other option was to withdraw Rangers membership. How does that sound to you? The punishment would have done more good than harm, now you will receive more punishment and have no body to blame but themselves.

Paulomagnifico 29/05/2012 Report this place
I think what you fail to understand bluenosesam is that the appropriate action by Rangers would have been to open a line of communication with FIFA regarding a lack of a right of appeal to the CAS within the SFA's own regulations.

Do you honestly think it's right to see a blatant hole in the rules, and upon that decide that you're also going to break the rules by taking the matter to a civil court?

It's becoming a bit of a Rangers FC policy to deliberately flout the rules and blame someone else.

Maresca 29/05/2012 Report this place
Getting booted out of the SFA - I'd go for that, I'd support Rangers if they were playing pub league football (oh we already are it's called the SPL), but the SFA don't have the bottle for that as they know it essentially signs the death warrant for the "professional" game up here. The punishment they did impose was not legally available to them which the court agreed with.

As for "line of communication with FIFA regarding a lack of right of appeal" it's not clear as to if such a task was undertaken - even if it was it would also mean we'd likely have to wait several months for them to get it sorted out. "flouting the rules" last i heard in a situation where you are correct & the ruling body is incorrect you call them out on it, this is Scotland, not China!

bluenoseam 29/05/2012 Report this place
The SFA have been shown up for their incompetence and their attempt to cover up a decision they knew to be illegal from the moment it was made and now the corrupt organisation that is FIFA are telling us that no matter how wrong a decision is you have to accept it, Aye right.
People have became so blind by their bitterness and hatred of Rangers and their desire to see them decimated they cant accept that in this case we are in the right.
By the 12th of July the CVA should be accepted and we can get on with the job of rebuilding Rangers and taking us back to where we belong as Champions of Scotland .
And that's what the rest of Scottish Football fears the most

scoja 29/05/2012 Report this place
Agree with most comments here; who the heck are FIFA to think that they can tell the SFA to take action on Rangers for taking them to court? What were Rangers supposed to do, just accept without question a sanction that is clearly not available to the SFA, and so unjust? FIFA is only a football organisation - they are not above the law; it's a bit like a company director sacking an employee according to his/her own rules with total disregard for employment rights laid down by British/European law. The club should follow this through by challenging the right of FIFA to insist on punishment. It is the SFA that was in the wrong to manufacture a sanction in the first place. They have acted 'criminally'.

What would society be like if each and every court judge was given license to apply the punishment he or she saw fit for each and every misdemeanour. Football needs to be looked at on a global scale, and come under the umbrella of the law in general; that should include laws on players transfers, players wages, (there should be a cap on these, and pay scales according to experience, international involvement etc), the remuneration for agents etc etc etc.

martingcairns 29/05/2012 Report this place
I can see FIFA taking a stance here, they seem to be the only ones with nothing to lose & have been watching from the sidelines as this embarrasing debacle has run on & on.
they will Tell the SFA to get some balls & do the right thing or be thrown out of world governing body of football like it or lump it rules have been broken by a memeber of a group who had agreed to abide by that groups rules.
One judge said that the punishment was just & fitted the crime while another said it was not. Once again the mind boggles at our judges decisons.
Lion were threatened with removal for lesser crime, so wjy do think Ranges should be treated any less lenient.

Andy boy 29/05/2012 Report this place
Lion? Perhaps you mean Sion. They fielded 5 ineligible players, as a result affected the result of a game & what's more they did this several times. Rangers utilised a tax loophole, currently under investigation for it's legality and their Chairman, Craig Whyte, decided on a personal level to withhold tax monies in protest at the investigation. Now we haven't heard from the EBT tribunal yet, but even the dimmest of people can understand that when the bear's already angry, you don't find a stick & poke the thing - that's stupidity of the grandest order! There is a mighty difference between using a tax system in good faith & fielding 5 players multiple times despite knowing they are ineligible.

The SFA will now reconsider their punishment, having decided first time round that suspending or expelling Rangers was NOT justifiable for the offense the first time round will have to reconsider this. Now the SFA have been shown up by Rangers on two counts, firstly by the fact their original sanction was not legal and secondly by highlighting the fact the SFA have no rights of appeal to the CAS - even those amongst you who don't support Rangers must see that's two fairly major problems. Especially when FIFA prefer these matters to be settled outwith the law courts - which in turn makes FIFA look somewhat foolish as they effectively mean that any problem in Scottish football ends full stop at Hampden.

This is going to bring some fairly severe changes to the Scottish Football Association - not least of all to sort out the CAS situation, but they now have to decide if they have the bottle to kick Rangers out of the SFA.

bluenoseam 29/05/2012 Report this place
And incidentally, the other forgotten fact, Rangers are currently barred as a result of an SPL rule from signing any players due to being in administration - they could very easily amend this rule at the meeting to discuss the Rangers situation to further that sanction to X amount of time after exiting administration. Given the frankly scary state of the finances at several clubs (Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen, Killie) i would suggest it's more likely that Lord Lucan & The Holy Grail are found than that happening as it would sting said clubs within 2-3 years! (or 1 if Rangers aren't playing SPL football next year)

bluenoseam 29/05/2012 Report this place
"This has to be said about Rangers…as a Scottish Football club they are a permanent embarrassment and an occasional disgrace. This country would be a better place if Rangers did not exist". 1970 - a quote made four decades before their cheating of Scottish football was exposed. Expulsion from Scottish football is the only appropriate punishment.

Ian Archer 29/05/2012 Report this place
What some people here seem to be forgetting is that in the SFA articles of association, which were agreed by all clubs, there is a clause which states that "a judicial panel can implement any sanctions it deems appropriate".
Rangers have either commited suicide or killed scottish football.....for all clubs, not just them.
Well done Rangers....yet again you have made a mockery of the words 'sport' and 'justice'.

StevieF 29/05/2012 Report this place
Actually in this instance there is a finite list of punishments which can be issued for the offense, which the judge laid out (and i have laid out previously) - clutching at straws doesn't stop the fact the panel screwed up, as did the appeal panel. As for embarrassments, hate to say it, but people in glass (green)houses shouldn't throw stones - as i have pointed out on many an occasion, those in Paradise have never been and will never be angels.

bluenoseam 29/05/2012 Report this place
Jean-Marc Bosman...

JimDallas 30/05/2012 Report this place
As you can read, this subject is clearly way too emotive for your average football fan. The whole business should be dealt with by the civil courts. Possibly that would put the real guilty parties under some discomfort. I have always believed that FIFA, Eufa and the rest have a set of rules that is far away from being legal in the modern world. They really should tidy up their statutes.

hawjim 30/05/2012 Report this place
No wonder Rangers are in the state they are in.None so blind as he who will not see.Does the judge draw up the fixture list does he draw the Scottish Cup pairings in fact does he draw up the statute of rules for Scottish football NO I did'nt think so.Bluenoseam you try to defend your corner by saying the SFA broke the law WHAT LAW? remember earlier this year Neil Lennon was assaulted on the pitch and the guy admitted the offence and this judicial system of yours found him not guilty.I don't think you will be missed bye bye.

bigowen coatbridge 30/05/2012 Report this place
Bluenoseam, it appears to me that the SFA was caught between a rock and a hard place. So came up with the the extra punishment re signing of players over age 18. This it would appear to have sent a message to all that justice was meted out appropriately.
Expulsion....relegation etc would have been too harsh in their reasoning. Using the young talent with a sprinkling of experenced players may be enough to keep Rangers in the SPL. The desire to instantly challenge for SPL Titles,is in my opinion is off the radar, considering the circumstances that has transpired in the past and more recently re the the EBT and Ticketus/Whyte purchase.
These infractions would I believe sink most Clubs.
This challenge may seem a victory of sorts but one wonders will this lead to harsher penalties down the road.

Happybhoy 30/05/2012 Report this place
Take it from this old soldier that some Wars aren't worth fighting.Rangers may have won this battle with the SFA but the War with FIFA can't be won.Sometimes it's better just to lick your wounds,walk away and live another day.-Gers fan.

The Ref 30/05/2012 Report this place
Once more slowly. The list of punishments was strictly limited in the rulebook to those which i pointed out yesterday - there was NO option available to the panel to ban player registration, it didn't exist neither did framework exist for ad hoc punishment. That's not really open to interpretation, hence the judge declared that the panel overstepped the mark in imposing such a sanction.

The "fan" who attacked Lennon was found "Not Proven" due to the fact that rather than go after the safe conviction (assault) they chose to go after the "glamour" conviction by adding a sectarian element to it. If it had been bog standard assault the guy would have been found guilty but the sectarian crime was not proven beyond reasonable doubt, hence impossible to find the man guilty. Do i believe it was a sectarian attack, probably, but ultimately they could not convince the judicial system of that - bearing in mind Lennon isn't exactly one of the most likeable people in world football. (that does NOT excuse attacking him by any means but lets face it, if you or i acted like that of a Friday night in the pub there's a fair chance we'd wind up with a kicking to show for it)

bluenoseam 30/05/2012 Report this place
'Take Note and Understand.' The reason the SFA botched this punishment was: that they invented a comprimise rather than having the guts to implement the correct punishment ie Expulsion. We have heard the mantra, the SFA & SPL cant live without Rangers nonsense for long enough. Lying, cheating, stealing and depriving the UK of Tax Revenue is despicable and RFC no longer deserve a place at the table of football. This argument that we are bigger than the SFA or League is futile, no organisation of any credibility can afford to have RFC as a member.
We keep hearing that RFC given limited sanctions will come back bigger and stronger than the rest etc, isn't that another form of cheating? It is time to rid Scottish Football of this cancer which has sullied our game on a world wide scale, and allow the other teams, the SPL and Scottish football to come back 'bigger, stronger and better'. Is that the rotting corpse of RFC I smell, or the stench of hypocrisy from the aplogists for liars and cheats? It is time to bury the rotten corpse and let the rest of Scottish Football move on to a new brighter dawn.

Gerrydrumsticks 30/05/2012 Report this place
When are people going to understand that the SFA acted outwith the powers that was available to them????? The SFA are a corrupt establishment, who went out of their way to kick Rangers when they were on their knees. Now they have to pay legal fee's for their actions. Maybe if they'd sat down with their lawyers and discussed this issue, Rangers wouldn't have had to take this legal action. Maybe if they thought about looking after one of their members, this would have been sorted out without going to court.Move with the times SFA

Chelgers 30/05/2012 Report this place
Blunoseam you would love to have the world think Rangers have done nothing wrong.Jim Farry forced to resign you know why Donald Findlay suspended for life from Ibrox you know why(you could probably go to this judge and get his ban overturned) I could go on but you would'nt see it through your blue tinted glasses. Oh and recently The Bank of Scotland, HRMC, Craig White,BBC,SPL,SFAand probably if he was around old uncle Tom Cobbly too are all to blame for Rangers ills.

bigowen coatbridge 30/05/2012 Report this place
I know Rangers and a number of their fans are not perfect - we did not pay tax as a result of the actions of one man (Craig Whyte) who removed the facility of the financial controller to sign cheques above £50, that won't cover anything. I've never once said we've done nothing wrong, the fact Whyte didn't pay tax sickens me as much as it sickens the next person, however the truth is that ultimately the club until that time had paid VAT & PAYE on time on a regular basis. They utilised the EBT system which is currently under investigation as to it's legality, if it's ruled illegal then recourse should be sought, but if it was legal then ultimately it was a saving the club could make. The law states that you must pay tax, it does however offer multiple routes to lessen the amount of tax (to the point where even the Chancellor stated it requires a library of advice) - 100% legal and open to everyone should you either understand the subject or have enough money to pay a professional to do so.

What i have also stated multiple times is that there is no club in Scotland who has no stain on their character, in one case i would suggest worse than incorrectly using a tax system or not paying tax full stop. I don't have "blue tinted glasses" i have perfectly sane vision knowing that we screwed up, fully wanting to go to the third division as I have said on numerous occasions, i accept the sanctions where they are legal & correct, which in this case the signing ban wasn't. We all know the reasons why the SFA didn't suspend or expel Rangers - they know it would effectively destroy any hope of attracting or retaining sponsorship.

If the SFA have the bottle to expel Rangers I would go along with that & if Rangers die then so be it, but with that comes the fact that the SPL within 5 years would fold, i predict that within 12 months of Rangers demise we would see the death of atleast 2 SPL clubs. I know if it happens i would be devastated & I will have attended my last match.

bluenoseam 30/05/2012 Report this place
How to get the truth across? Well, lets try.The European Court of Justice has,repeatedly in a number of judgements, re-affirmed that sport (not just football), whether amateur or professional, is subject to community laws "where the activities are of an economic nature within the meaning of Article 2 EC".For the benefit of such as the apparently ignorant chairman of St Mirren, that does not cover football matters such as orderings off or player suspensions, but does cover economic activity such as player transfers. That is the law, and it is not the law that is an ass!
We are now in a position where there is a standing decision of the Court of Session. It is open to the SFA to appeal that decision .In the interim, the embargo is struck down. However, what FIFA has told the SFA to do would have catastrophic consequences. If they attempt to punish Rangers for going to the law courts, they will find themselves back in court facing contempt of court charges. That is as certain as day follows night. The die is now cast, and that is exactly what FIFA and UEFA are afraid of. If they chose to continue the battle it would go to the UK Supreme Court, then to the European Court, with the certainty that the rule of law would prevail. Much as I accept Craig White is a very guilty party and some punishment is appropriate, a much more important democratic principle is at stake; equality under the rule of law. Undemocratic bodies such as FIFA cannot be allowed to place themselves above the law. For these reasons I and the other proud members of the Rangers family will continue to pursue justice under the law whether the SFA and FIFA like it or not.

Gorscot 31/05/2012 Report this place
Clearly it would be wrong for FIFA or the SFA to seek to punish Rangers more severely when it was the SFA and their representatives who acted illegally!

How can FIFA support the illegal actions of the SFA?

Do FIFA consider themselves above UK Law?

Co-ordinator 31/05/2012 Report this place
>If they attempt to punish Rangers for going to the law courts, they will find themselves back in court facing contempt of court charges.

Utter nonsense, Rangers signed up to the rules of the SFA, they broke them, accept yer expulsion and move on.

Declan Murphy 01/06/2012 Report this place
All you rangers fans on here spouting that the SFA acted illegally will rue your comments as the appeal panel now has no option other than to use a option that WAS open to them and that is to throw rangers and all their baggage out of Scottish Football otherwise Scotish Football is finished so I say good riddance.

bigowen coatbridge 01/06/2012 Report this place

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FIFA warn Scottish FA they must act against Rangers for use of law courts

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