Fraser Wishart, the head of PFA Scotland, today asked for an amnesty on players and officials who are caught gambling.
He says it’s to relieve the pressure on the SFA, so that we don’t end up with dozens of them in the dock.
Nice idea.
Let’s apply it to the wider justice system.
Is there a crime he’d like us to ignore so it doesn’t waste the time of the courts, and who’s elimination would free up vital room in the prison service which we can use to house “real” criminals?
That’s what this is; it’s a call for us to ignore breaches of the rules.
If you wonder what’s wrong in Scottish football, this is it right here.
That an authority figure can make such a blatantly dangerous suggestion and that not one single journalist has called it madness. It is an invite for cheats. It says Scotland is open for business, to all kinds of people we wouldn’t want within a country mile of our national sport.
Our game is full of people like this, and suggestions like these.
Let’s ignore a decade of fraud and cheating.
Let’s ignore how a club lied to get a European license.
Let’s not rock the boat on sectarianism.
Let’s not comment on racism.
Let’s not acknowledge that referees have allegiances too.
Let’s not talk about A or how it impacts on B or leads us to C because that would expose us to inconvenient facts we’d rather not face.
This is exactly what we’ve been talking about, for months now, a lax attitude which leads some to believe they can be simply ignored. This is why I write so much about SFA corruption and their unwillingness to face up to problems, because this attitude permeates the whole sport.
Some rules aren’t important.
Others are too finicky and tough to enforce.
Some are just a general pain in the arse because they stop clubs from spending what they want.
What these attitudes do is they promote a general contempt for all the rules, and we know exactly where that leads. Fraser Wishart might think he’s standing up for his members, but his members know what’s acceptable and what’s not. He might think he’s striking a blow for the common good, but he’s not asking for a re-drawing of the rulebook but saying we should actually ignore what’s in there. And there’s no good that can come from that.
I like Fraser Wishart. I respect him and the job he does. His comments today are unsurprising though, considering the culture at Hampden.
He might not realise it, but he’s asking for an amnesty on match-fixing.
On cheating.
He says that we should consider that no-one has been charged with those offences although people have been charged with breaking the betting rules themselves. What he means is that no-one has been caught yet. Ignoring the rules and failing to punish breaches of them is a recipe for disaster that only leads to greater rule breaking though .
If the problem doesn’t already exist he is asking that we create the perfect environment in which it can take hold … and grow.
It is one of the most irresponsible statements I’ve ever read, and he should ponder it for a while and then think again.