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Celtic 'surprised' by Rangers commission ruling

Last updated on .From the section Footballcomments359

Media conference - Celtic manager Neil Lennon

Celtic have stated 'surprise' at the verdict reached by the Scottish Premier League-appointed commission on Rangers.

"We are surprised by the parallel conclusion that no competitive advantage was gained from these arrangements," said a club statement.

The commission fined the company that previously ran Rangers £250,000 for non-disclosure of payments.

However, the judgement ruled that no sporting sanction, such as removing titles, should be applied.

The Lord Nimmo Smith-chaired commission was set up to establish if Rangers had broken player SPL rules in relation to its Employee Benefits Trust scheme run between 2001 and 2011.

"The implications of this verdict are for the Scottish football authorities to address since the rules breached were specifically intended to defend 'sporting integrity'," the statement continued.

"We note yesterday's decision that Rangers FC has been found guilty of contravening the SPL rules on disclosure of payments over 11 years between 2000-2011.

"The scale of this amounts to a deliberate non-disclosure of £47 million in payments to players and staff."

Earlier, Celtic manager Neil Lennon was guarded over whether Rangers enjoyed a competitive advantage over alleged undisclosed payments.

"I believe they were found guilty of paying £47m over 11 years in non-disclosed payments," Lennon said.

He declined to share his "own views" on whether they enjoyed a competitive advantage.

"I will save that for another time," the Celtic manager added.

Asked if the Ibrox club should feel vindicated by not having titles stripped, he said: "They probably feel they've got their own way".

"It wasn't our fight, it was the SPL, they brought up the tribunal against Rangers, it doesn't affect us. We have the quarter-final to prepare for and we're playing Juventus in the last 16 of the Champions League, we're not renting out a training ground."

The Celtic manager added: "I don't want to take anything away from what my team and club are doing.

"The way we behave, the way we do our business has been impeccable and that's the reason why we are in the position we are in now."

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359 comments

  • Comment posted by User0111489079, at 13:17 2 Mar 2013

    That didn't take long.

    Time for some lunch ;)

  • Comment posted by User0111489079, at 11:15 2 Mar 2013

    TTFN CLOWNSHOES

  • Comment posted by User0044860563, at 18:37 1 Mar 2013

    Why are Celtic always interested in Rangers? It's beyond a joke now. Every single week there's a Celtic statement about the situation at Rangers. I didn't see any unfair advantage on the pitch where games and league titles are won and lost.

  • Comment posted by User0925418989, at 15:29 1 Mar 2013

    Arry Rednapp would have been a good Rangers manager, he likes a brown envelope full of cash and a no questions asked policy

  • Comment posted by morbhoy, at 18:16 1 Mar 2013

    @56 Is it not a bit late for you to be up?

  • Comment posted by Billy Rice, at 22:29 1 Mar 2013

    @197 redshh1rt
    I raise a glass of red to you, sir. Slainte.

    @204. Sir_superally
    Stop!

    @199 a1tchy.
    I had an old friend who had a background in psychiatric medicine. He would occasionally state that, "You can't reason with a sick mind!"

    Didn't quite understand it until this forum kicked off!

    I would suggest that young Barry Ferguson would keep a posse of trick cyclists busy for months!

  • Comment posted by This name is awaiting moderation, at 15:44 1 Mar 2013

    I'm surprised his views were sought out on a third division club...

  • Comment posted by User0435259100, at 15:35 1 Mar 2013

    @2 No it isn't.

    HM Revenue and Customs had claimed the EBT scheme, which was used to make £47.65m in payments to players and staff in the form of tax-free loans, was illegal.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21604986

  • Comment posted by User0652727345, at 11:56 2 Mar 2013

    The sobbering thing is that with these two cases results, rangers need not have gone down the road they did and titles 55? and 56? could have been in the bag.

  • Comment posted by User0111489079, at 18:57 2 Mar 2013

    "Heard soooo many celtic fans will NEVER return to another SPL match because of this ruling"

    Is your favourite colour pink ?

  • Comment posted by User0500510887, at 17:39 1 Mar 2013

    61: Bitter and twisted? Are you aware of the litany of crimes perpetrated against 'this man' in Scotland? By 'his gallery' I take it you mean people like me, who agree with his sentiments and have no doubt that this is a whitewash.

    Anyway, enjoy your weekend, and life in Denmark or wherever your team are playing these days. Haven't seen you for a while...

  • Comment posted by Astonishingly Brilliant, at 16:41 1 Mar 2013

    @29 It turned into a one horse race because Rangers went out of business - without having any bill from the BTC. Nothing to do with this inquiry or even the BTC, everything to do with them needing to spend money they didn't have to compete for the last decade.

    @23 Read it again, still says you're guilty.

    @22 And by not submitting it players were improperly registered - deliberately to avoid tax

  • Comment posted by User0791000814, at 17:55 1 Mar 2013

    Unfortunately, the 5 Titles in question will remain tainted by many in the game and beyond. David Bernstein of the FA stated, that under FA rules (in England) the ultimate sanction, (removal of titles) would have been the penalty for the offences committed.

  • Comment posted by User0916458582, at 08:13 2 Mar 2013

    @290 until there is a cap on how much teams can spend on transfer fees or wages, the team that brings in the most money will always have an advantage over those that cant spend as much. Is your wee local roll shop going to have a bigger turn-over than Costa? Nothing to be guilty of in that regard, nonsense point.

  • Comment posted by Celtic1888, at 17:42 1 Mar 2013

    Why is Neil constantly getting asked questions about sevco.? They don't even play in the same league as us. I couldn't care less what they do. In fact I cannot even remember the last time I looked for their result. Just concentrate on winning the league Neil because its going to be a fair few years before the Forces of darkness win it again.

  • Comment posted by User0916458582, at 22:20 1 Mar 2013

    got to laugh at all the The Rangers fans commenting on Celtic forums again.
    "Lennon's this", "we never did that" lol such a sad lot to spend your friday night .
    Lennon can only answer the questions the press put to him. do you think he sat down and said "got a scottish cup game tomo, lets talk about that lot in div 3"??
    Well played Lennon winding up the bitter bunch again, great entertainment!

  • Comment posted by tomfer, at 16:10 1 Mar 2013

    The "fine" is completely meaningless to a club that is bankrupt , so really unless Rangers ARE actually forced to pay the taxes they have dodged , they have really completely missed ANY real or meaningful punishment at all . There was NO "demotion" to Div 3 , it is SUPPOSED to be a completely new club with NON titles anyway and favours were done to ALLOW them into Div 3 as they did not meet rules.

  • Comment posted by User0925418989, at 15:48 1 Mar 2013

    Anyone else think Rangers could do a Gretna get promoted 3 times in a row then fold, just a thought.

  • Comment posted by User0595320439, at 10:37 2 Mar 2013

    294.jm9890
    Missing out 50% tax meant better players were attracted to Rangers for more money gaining a sporting advantage over everyone else
    ===
    But not an unfair one, as the "payments... were not... in breach of SPL Rules" means that this "payment" method was open to all other SPL clubs.

  • Comment posted by User0329430981, at 22:11 1 Mar 2013

    @sir supersally How can I be off topic, responding to your comments......or have you changed the rules again ?

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