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Astounding Tax Justice Network Report Destroys The Credibility Of The SFA

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Tonight I’ve read one of the most astonishing things it’s ever been my good fortune to read in many, many years commenting on issues involving football and politics.

In that time, I’ve read public reports that damned institutions and even governments. I’ve read party political meeting minutes I couldn’t even write about and I’ve seen almost every piece of information in the public domain concerning Rangers and the Tax Case … and a lot of stuff that’s never been there.

What I’ve just read is damning.

Every single person in our support should read it, and send it on to as many people as possible.

I’m going to do a full piece on it tomorrow, for On Fields of Green, but I wanted to publicise the report itself as widely as possible before then.

This report makes it clear that the people running Scottish Football are not up to the job.

It paints a picture of an administration that is either incompetent, weak or corrupt … possibly all three at once. It omits nothing. It levels serious accusations at those at the top, and the writers contacted all of them before publication, to get their side of it on the record.

Not a single respondent – including Campbell Ogilvie or Stewart Regan – would comment on what these people have found.

The findings of this report are impossible to dismiss, because it’s been put together by an organisation who’s impartiality is beyond question.

They are also serious people, and thus can’t be waved aside easily.

The organisation that published this report – The Offshore Game – is a small part of a larger organisation called The Tax Justice Network. They regularly, and fearlessly, report on issues of enormous national importance. Their 2012 report The Price Of Offshore made international headlines and exposed the tax havens which hide $21 trillion from the authorities and the reach of national governments, with an estimated cost to the taxpayer in the billions.

In other words, these people have no association with Scottish football and are completely impartial and not motivated by anything other than the public interest.

The Offshore Game website frequently publishes blogs on issues relating to football in England and here, including numerous articles on related matters. Several years ago it made headlines for a stunning article which revealed how much British clubs are in the pockets of offshore companies with no interests in their wellbeing but obsessed only with money. The report predicted that before long one club would be virtually destroyed by one of these secreative arrangements, and they cite Bolton Wanderers as their Index Case.

This report tonight is comprehensive and devastating to the reputation of the SFA and can only increase public interest in seeing that organisation entirely reformed.

You can read the summary – and download the full report – at this link.

I urge every single reader to do so.

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