Did the Scottish Football Association and Sevco do a deal in 2018 to bury Resolution 12?

The Resolution 12 scandal was never simply about the original Rangers lying in 2011 to get a UEFA licence.

Rather, it was about the lack of oversight by the folks at Hampden on that application process.

The SFA announced charges in May 2018 against The Rangers Football Club (2012) for noncompliance with UEFA Financial Fair Play (FFP) articles relating to tax overdue by the original Ibrox club in 2011.

The SFA did so without reference to the period of noncompliance in question, Sevco were reported in the Daily Record to have said in response at the time:

“The Rangers Football Club was informed today by the Scottish FA (“SFA”) that, after an eight-and-a-half month investigation, the SFA will not be proceeding with a Notice of Complaint in respect of the submission made by the club to the SFA at the end of March 2011 with regard to the issue of the club’s UEFA licence for the following season.

The club is unsurprised that it has now finally been accepted by the SFA that the accusations made against the club were groundless. The club questions whether the time, cost and expense of this investigation was justified and was a good use of the SFA’s limited resources.”

This omission is highly significant indeed and goes to the heart of the Resolution 12 scandal.

That response, excluding the period when the licence was granted, was challenged in a letter from Celtic shareholders which was hand-delivered to Hampden on the evening of the JPDT on 25th June 2018. The Compliance Officer also received it by email on 26th June 2018 because he was working from home at the time. The missive contained evidence that a payable to HMRC from Rangers (1872) existed at 31st March 2011.

This is a real smoking gun!

The keyword here from UEFA articles is “payable”, not “liability” and certainly not ‘a potential liability subject to continuing discussions between Club and HM Revenue and Customs’ which was the basis the SFA justified granting the licence according to SFA CEO Stewart Regan.

The correspondence also referred the SFA to a  very similar case on tax overdue payables involving Giannina FC in 2013 whose license application was rejected by UEFA causing Giannina FC to appeal but CAS upheld UEFA’s decision, explaining the intent of UEFA FFP Articles in respect of tax overdue to social authorities throughout Europe. Another case involving Malaga FC also setting out UEFA’s intent can be found at the Resolution 12 archive.

Consequently, I have today submitted the following questions to the SFA:

Q1. Did the then SFA Compliance Officer read the correspondence of 25th June 2018 from a firm of international solicitors representing a group of Celtic shareholders and reach a decision on the relevance of the information provided?

Q2. Did he do so on his own or did he seek advice from UEFA, the authority on the matter, particularly in light of the information provided relating to the Giannina FC and Malaga FC cases both referred to CAS?

Q3. If not why not?

Q4 If he acted on his own did the information and evidence provided challenge the reasons, he was given previously by TRFC that led to the end of March period being dropped from the Judicial Panel Disciplinary Tribunal (JPDT)?

Q5. If the evidence and information made no difference can the reasons be explained in terms of UEFA and CAS findings on Giannina FC and Malaga FC?

Q6. Did the Compliance Officer share or mention the contents of the lawyer’s letter with the JPDT?

Q7. If not, why not?

Q8. If JPDT were informed did they question the basis on which The Compliance Officer had agreed to drop the end of March period from scrutiny and limitation of the JPDT to the monitoring period?

Q9. Were the JPDT even aware that the end of March 2011 period had been dropped and the reasons given?

Q10. Did the new information have any influence on the JPDT decision to eventually refer the matter to CAS that was subsequently made public on 19 July 2018?

If I receive any reply from the SFA to these questions, then I will publish them here.

I am fully aware that the people who are currently handling communications for the SFA want this issue and indeed this journalist to go away.

However, given their experience with me during the “Dallas Email” case, it would indicate that they still some consequential learning in front of them.

43 thoughts on “Did the Scottish Football Association and Sevco do a deal in 2018 to bury Resolution 12?”

  1. Hallelujah Phil. 🙂 Thank you for leading from the front.

    As Robert F Kennedy said, ” Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope …”

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  2. Keep at them Phil, keep at them!

    Somewhat off topic but I see Budge is due to present her revamped restructuring proposals on Monday. Sheer speculation but could the following be the kind of proposal she offers?:-

    Due to the impact of C-19 in terms of recession, unemployment and significant reduction in disposable income throughout Scotland, the money available from supporters in the coming year will be greatly diminished in terms of season tickets, gate receipts and TV subscriptions to support all three Scottish football competitions in season 2020/21. At the same time the football community in Scotland needs to lookout for and support all members of that community without any club being unfairly disadvantaged; the cake will inevitably be smaller and leaner but the 42 portions should be shared on a more equitable basis. On that basis the three tier 14 club structure should be implemented for one year on an interim basis. At the same time the League Cup competition for season 2020/21 should be suspended. This would free up fixture slots for the 14 team league structure. It would also avoid the risk of the League Cup becoming a loss making venture for many lesser clubs due to low ticket sales and, given that the new League Cup TV deal with Premier Sports is yet to commence, suspension would not accrue potential contractual penalties even if some TV revenues were to be lost in the short term. Future arrangements could then be reviewed prior to the 2021/22 season.

    Not saying that I would support all of this, but given Doncaster’s warning abut the impact of legal action on all clubs in the press on Friday and the fact that Celtic and Sevco have signalled their willingness to re-visit the possibility of restructuring I wonder if this might be the direction of travel. Of course if it were to be suspended the League Cup may well then wither on the vine completely, and as a consequence the two pending Scottish Cup semi-final and final games may well be the last time a ‘Treble’ can ever be won. If that were to happen a QuadReble Treble would surely be something to savour!

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  3. I was one who tired of this but given Sevco’s fans’ enthusiasm to try and block Celtic’s CL entry, I want Res12 pursued all the way!

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  4. Despite my love for our club I’ve decided to take up Celtic’s offer to refund part of last year’s ST monies pro rata to the number of home games played.
    I’ve arrived at the simple rational that if Celtic can afford to write off the potential millions lost by not challenging the SFA and Rangers on the fraudulent licence cabal, with some of those responsible still involved at Hampden and Ibrox, then I will gladly take the £100 I’m due.
    Given the silence from Celtic Park on this matter I reckon I won’t be alone in taking this decision.

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    • I’ve already posted that I too will be asking for the money back ….which I’ll then gladly pass on to any crowd-funding that might appear for Res 12.
      And just to repeat…after 50 + years of going to CP….I won’t be back.
      The way the Club has acted in this whole sordid affair leaves me with no choice.
      People will do their own thing and make up their own minds…but for me…its a no brainer.
      Its a shameful episode in the Club’s history…and I want no part of it.

      Reply
  5. On a cheerful note if the lockdown is getting to you and you need a laugh have a read at Ibrox Noise.
    These guys are feckin hilarious. Still ranting on about Celtic’s 9 IAR, how unfair the process was and how they were cheated out of the chance to catch the Champions!
    Cheated indeed, 100% agree but their ire should be aimed at the bottlers in their squad and a manager way out of his depth.
    Once again the question is if unfair and cheated is the name of the game why did your club vote for the SPFL motion to finish the league as is using average points?
    Anything to do with money, perchance?
    Imagine these complaints going before a court of law…… perhaps the unanimous vote by the SPFL 12, including the pursuant, would see them laughed out of court if it even got that far.

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  6. Serious Backwards Momentum at Celtic.

    Notwithstanding the hit to the share-price at Celtic due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic; due diligence to the people having to deal with it, but Celtic seem to have gathered a lot of backwards momentum, regarding the state of the squad on the field of play. And it seems to have gone unnoticed, under the radar, if you like. From a corporate governance point of view, it all seems so unnecessary But the facts are there to consider.

    At the end of the season 2018/19 we had won the Treble Treble and qualified for the UCL by merit of being the champions of Scotland. Then Kieren Tierney was sold to Arsenal for £25 million and Neil Lennon was appointed as the manager on a permanent basis. We subsequently didn’t qualify for the UCL Group stages for last season, losing out on the up to £30 million for doing so, (more than off-setting the selling fee for Tierney). The two corporate decisions taken between the time when Brendan Rodgers announced his move to Liecester and the end of the season, seem to have been taken on the basis of Don’t Panic reasoning or else muddled decisions by the Board.

    Before Brendan Rodgers’ departure, Celtic FC, on the field of play was riding on the crest of a wave. Had we not sold Tierney, we could have continued that forwards momentum by continuing to build the team round him going forward and employed a football manager who, with European credentials could have got us through to the UCL Group stages, such as we did very successfully with Brendan Rodgers. The template for such was put in place by Brendan Rodgers and his team. I am thinking of Claudio Rannieri who was available at the time or Roberto Mancini for example to simply get us into the UCL proper and the riches therein, which we should have been competing for.

    Instead we were dumped out of the UCL by Clug who we clearly should have beaten and then subsequently dumped out of the UEL by a team we also clearly should have had the beating of. So where does that leave us for next seasons European competition, whenever that comes around; due diligence to the people who are dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic on our behalf.

    In a short space of time, from being a team recognised as a UCL team, a couple of seasons ago, we seem to have got the rush from Europe. It simply doesn’t seem to figure any more in the mindset of the Club. It is as if, we lose Brendan Rodgers, we lose our European credibility. Is this really the way the Board are happy to operate at, in terms of the performance on the field of play?

    Reply
    • Lets look at some facts here. When BR jumped ship mid season we were playing woeful football, and indeed had been for most of that season and the latter part of the previous season. His tactics of passing the ball around in the middle of the park without actually moving it forward had become predictable to even the most naïve of managers. He’d been rumbled. We did NOT qualify for the CL that season under HIS management and against a team arguably worse than Cluj. He presided over the heaviest and most embarrassing defeats Celtic have ever suffered in Europe.

      As for KT? He hardly made an appearance last season and has followed a similar pattern this season with Arsenal.

      In masterminding the home AND away victories over Lazio, Lennon achieved what NO manager of ANY Scottish club ever had before, including big Jock.

      We’ve played more exciting, direct and entertaining football this season under Lennon than we did even in the invincible season, when a lot of results were ground out.

      BR was a One-Trick pony and his trick had been sussed. As it was in Liverpool.

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  7. It’s a different Compliance Officer now but an interesting timeline. You write that he was working from home on the 26th June 2018. The SFA announced that he was leaving on the 12th of June. So was he working his notice OR taking due leave? Could the reason for his departure be the attitude towards the charge by his SFA bosses?

    The present Compliance Officer was appointed in August 2018.

    Reply
    • He laid the non compliance charges in May 2018. I suspect he didn’t want to be found out about
      a) excluding the grant period without public justification.
      b) charging the wrong entity when he had no right to under the 5 Way Agreement
      c) not handing the matter to the police or charging Johnson and Dickson as individuals.

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  8. I think your email won’t get past their firewall, the same that happened to Dundee’s original vote. There won’t be no Deloitte investigation as to why though lol

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  9. I take it , Phil , that the Title of this piece is rhetorical ?

    Given previous encounters with Scottish Football authorities and their timely response to ‘difficult questions ‘ , I suspect that you will not be holding your breath .

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  10. It’s clear in the first sentence in italics that the respondents are “THE Rangers football club”. This has nothing to do with the new club named THE Rangers football club. This issue is in respect of their old now dead relatives Rangers football club and the SFA. Easy mistake to make. Both clubs reside or did reside at the same address. Both clubs draw from the same fan base in the same colours. However, as has been made clear many times THE Rangers football club have no liability over their dead relatives crimes and debts. I refuse to weaponise a particular unpleasant subject in support of this lack of liability which The Rangers are only too happy to use when it suits them.

    The SFA are the main culprits here in issuing a license and Rangers Football club are the fraud perpetrators by lying in the submissions for the license.

    So as Slippy himself said, if someone marks their own homework they should expect to award themselves full marks. How can the SFA investigate their own maladministration? Maybe Jim Farry should have investigated his own behaviour in the Cadette saga. I’m sure he tried but Fergus wasn’t one for taking that.

    Let’s not be naive here. Celtic’s lack of enthusiasm here is for one and only one reason. It is not in their interests financially. Follow the money and you will find the reasons for a club’s actions. Brand Old Firm is worth more to Celtic than getting to the bottom of this. They know clearly what happened. They know there is nothing in it financially for them. Who knows, maybe there is evidence they knew about EBTs, tax bills and the like all along but said nothing because they needed Rangers to survive. They must have got wind of salary offers to players Rangers signed then. Celtic may have won leagues in the absence of Rangers but they also lost money as they waited for the new club to rise through the leagues and start a new rivalry, not the Old Firm. Rangers are deid as is The Old Firm but Celtic and Scottish football are more than happy to sell on the back of a supposed Old Firm rivalry which died in 2012.

    JS

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    • Well, well. The BBC did in fact invite Ian Maxwell onto Sportsound this afternoon. However, far from grilling him on the reasons for throwing out the Res12 issue with barely an explanation he was asked not one single question relating to the issue. Compare and contrast with the grilling of Neil Doncaster when he was asked the same question over and over again then subjected to post interview innuendo by the pundits on the show.

      Tom “the soup” English had a little dig during the week with his “now you want an investigation” tweet. He fails to realise that the Res12 dossier contains many clear points backed up by forensic analysis of the timelines and people involved in the tax due dates. In contrast, as expected, Sevco’s “dossier” contained nothing but a load of moans and groans. What you fail to understand Tom is we welcome any investigation so long as it looks at all issues back to 2012 and beyond. Not just a recent short window involving the moans of Sevco.

      The issuing of the decision on the Res12 complaint stinks. It takes so long then is suddenly punted out a day after Celtic are supposedly “given” the title. As if to say “you got the title and you’re still complaining?”. It makes me think the whole Sevco antics of the last month or two were a smokescreen destined to fail but to give an argument for people like English to use in dismissing Res12. We’ve denied Sevco’s call for an investigation and we’re so even handed we also threw out Res12. Look how fair we are. Let’s move on now for the good of Scottish Football in these trying times. Any further complaining is just detracting from the issues at hand of an existential crisis in Scottish Football.

      Cream of Chicken or Lentil Tom? What soup do you prefer to take?

      JS

      Reply
  11. The scandal isn’t that rangers cheated. They have always cheated. The scandal isn’t that the SFA Let rangers cheat. They have always let rangers cheat. That’s their job. The scandal is that the celtic board have accepted this. Sit at the back of the bus timmy.
    Something doesn’t add up here.

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  12. Rangers and the SFA were always hand in glove. The Rangers hand in the SFA glove.

    The Chairman of the SFA, when Rangers unlawfully registered tax avoiding EBT players, was the former Rangers CEO Campbell Ogilvie, who helped develop the EBT strategy at Rangers FC. He then went over to the SFA and knowingly accepted those bent contracts.

    Corruption upon corruption.

    The SFA executive staff were specifically selected due to their Rangers FC supporting disposition and their culture of controlled secrecy upon the square. It was remarked that not one SFA employee supported CELTIC.

    Fergus McCann took them on in the courts regarding the Celtic registration of george cadet and how the SFA impeded that. Jim Farry, SFA Chairman (Ex janitor) bluenose got his jotters.

    Reply
    • Yes, I’ve always wondered about the SFA recruitment process at all levels and if it reflects the West of Scotland demographic?
      I suspect not!
      There is no guarantee when you appoint a CEO with qualifications galore that he will cut the mustard but the very least you would expect someone drawing down a few hundred thousands pounds per annum is some familiarity with the English language which the current encumbent has already embarrassingly demonstrated he has not.
      How many applicants were interviewed for the job? One?
      What attributes did Maxwell bring before the interviewing board that secured him the gig?
      From the very little we have seen or heard from him I cannot fathom for the life of me what he brings to the job and would be amazed if there would not have been dozens of applicants much more suited in both experience and qualifications.

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  13. Extremely disappointed on Celtic take on this matter and as you say the SFA hope this is swept under the carpet and the end of the matter . I called Lawell out on this on another blog the other , even though he had been presented with the evidence he ignored it . The comments I received back on that blog all denied Lawell knowing and accusations aimed at me for being part of the Klan because I dare to criticise Celtic or Lawell how dare I.

    Reply
    • Lawwell and Eric Riley accepted the 5 Way agreement in July 2012. It was sent to them by Doncaster for acceptance by the next day.
      They should have know when SFA Compliance Officer charged The Rangers in 2018 that the SFA had surrendered power to act under the 5 Way Agreement. If you want to read more of what they knew look up the timeline from 15 May 2018 from https://www.res12.uk/timeline-two-part-three-continued-after-the-trial-was-over-june-2017-to-date/

      Reply
      • Domestic records, cups etc… are only useful to Desmond/Lawwell to keep the stadium full, season tickets maxed and domestic sponsors cosy.

        Annual European top tier participation is where the Desmond/Lawwell mindset is. What Rangers did in previous years doesn’t bring in money. After the Supreme Court verdict CFC could have sued RFC (in liquidation) for 5SPL titles and lost CL revenue. CFC would have been a bigger creditor of the RFC pot than HMRC.

        I would have gone after SDM, Campbell Ogilvie, Stuart Regan, Alastair Johnston, Martin Bain and Dave King. They were all on the EBT approving Board and/or SFA. It was all deliberate to cheat Max CL income each year. As admitted by Alex McLeish on tv. EBTs were the only way to beat CELTIC (and get CL money).

        Reply
  14. Why do you not contact uefa ,why are you wasting time contacting the sfa who never ever reply , all your doing is moving deck chairs yet you claim thats what the press do here
    so go on use your nuj badge and contact UEFA,,,,,,,,,,it might help ,,,,,,,,,,or is it laziness like other badge holders

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  15. I think the sfa know only too well about your tenacity Phil.

    In answer to your articles title,yes,almost certainly,uncovering it will be the real challenge.

    Thanks and G’luck🍀

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  16. Phil; you are to be commended for pursuing journalism in submitting these questions to SFA. But you also know they will do SFA with them (as with previous cases you have submitted questions).

    There is only one way that the answers you seek will become public and that is with an action brought in courts. None of the parties involved want any investigation or even further discussion of this. I count Celtic among this group of parties.

    As I have said many times on here, I simply await details of the court action and the crowdfunder to make my contribution to said cause!

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    • Preliminary legal advice is that the legal route is fraught with challenges, will take some time and might not produce a result and is not a basis to seek crowd funding.

      That should come out more fully soon.

      Now if a millionaire fancied a punt….

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  17. Got the feeling I must have missed something.
    When did Rangers begin their long awaited legal action against the SPFL?
    I’m a bit confused because I read in the papers, so it must be true, that there was a unanimous vote of the 12 SPFL top league clubs to end the season on an average points basis.
    Again I may have missed it in the media but has anyone raised the question ‘what the feck’ as I’m struggling to square the threatened legal action with Rangers part in the unanimous vote.
    I’m sure there’s a simple answer.

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  18. There are none so blind as those who will not see.

    They know what the issue is ,. if they could refute the claim and make it go away then they would have done so long before.

    But they can’t, so it lingers, festers and they choose to ignore the requesitioners.

    As a Celtic fan, why are my club who were cheated and suffered material losses not pursuing this with the authorities?

    Begs the question .. what are the SFA/Sevco holding against Celtic to buy their ilence?

    DB

    Reply
    • Accepting the 5 Way Agreement that took the power to investigate away from SFA to CAS is one reason but that should not have stopped involving UEFA as they weren’t party to the 5 Way.

      Insisting requisitioners only deal with SFA now looks highly questionable.

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  19. Today’s version of the club are still getting away with breaking the rules FFP ha will they be allowed to play in Europe next season? Of course they will

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  20. I think myself that the SFA and Sevco reached a deal whereby the club agreed to put it’s ‘dossier’ away in return for this absolution.The timing from the SFA is curious. The silence from Celtic is disturbing. Sevco bleated on about procedures and the machinations of the SFA in their impotent dossier. I look forward to any reply you might get from the SFA.
    Regarding your work re Hugh Dallas and sectarianism well it is as rife today as ever it was. If you look at any online Sevco forum the naked sectarianism is frightening. KDS isn’t a sectarian free zone but it’s not as bad as the likes of FF. Dingwall who seems to run FF is a particularly odious piece of work based on his posts on FF. The greatest respect and victory Sevco could ever hope to achieve would be to purge their supporter base of their naked sectarianism. Sevco also need to teach their fans that they have no reason to feel superior. WATP what is that all about. We are all the people. Sevco should disassociate themselves from any forum or fan who is bigoted. They should disassociate themselves from the WATP nonsense. Sevco are the laughing stock of Scottish football.

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  21. There are people at Hampden and Ibrox, past and present, who perpetrated a serious crime with regards to the Rangers fraudulent UEFA licence application.
    Those responsible, and those who looked the other way are equally guilty.
    The evidence is there and is perfectly clear.
    Whats to stop them pulling the same stunt again? In fact how in hell does the Rangers financials meet FFP regulations, with losses of near £50m, since 2012 with another heavy dunt to be added in the current financial year?
    Have the fag packet interims of last year showing a healthy half year profit been photocopied, the date changed, and forwarded to Hampden, job done?
    Maxwell must be aware that the annual audited results and the 6 monthly interims waived through by the committee last year would have been laughed at by someone with O Grade Arithmetic, wondering if the numbers related to the same entity, such was the turnaround from profit to a huge loss.
    No offence to Maxwell, perhaps O Grade Arithmetic is not his thing but surely the numbers could have been bounced off the SFA’s own auditors to make some sense of them and ask the obvious questions….. As in ‘are you taking the piss?’

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  22. Phil, I fear that without a ‘Damascus Road’ change of heart somewhere, this is going nowhere. The SFA obviously plan to ignore it. Celtic, for all their supposed disavowal of the Old Firm, see the presence of a ‘Rangers’ as a cash cow and will not seek to rock the boat. The other clubs, having nothing to gain and not wishing to incur the wrath of Ra Peepul, will do likewise so it’s not going to UEFA, who are too busy making money themselves to pay any attention to the fans who pay said money.

    I find it all very dispiriting. Celtic have been a big part of my life for 40 odd years but I am seriously questioning whether even they are worthy of my attention any longer.

    Reply
    • That has been the most disappointing aspect of all and it will be raised at next AGM to get answers from Celtic.

      my summing up is

      Any agreement that requires the custodians of Celtic to subsequently lie to those who have placed the well being of Celtic in their care, simply cannot be agreed to.

      They made a mistake between the rock and the hard place, not so much in accepting, but hiding the fact they had accepted and not trusting that the support would understand why they had to.

      They may think it is too late to come clean now but in my book it is never to late to do the right thing.

      Reply
  23. It’s a case that needs to be pursued to the bitter end… igniting it is exactly what every party involved wants.

    More pressing to me is what is happening with Sevco’s current uefa license application?!?

    Have they submitted accounts?
    Why haven’t they been published if they have ?
    Are the SFA going to do their ‘house’ club another favour?

    The Res 12 issue is important… but it has passed and even if justice is done … the outcome cannot ge changed. Right now however .. the same people are doing the same thing again for the same ‘peepul’.

    The appropriate parties asking the right questions NOW could possibly help prevent another gross injustice and gross mismanagement of their position by the SFA.

    Right now.. this matters more.

    Reply

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