Tonight I spoke with a Celtic shareholder who was centrally involved in the Resolution 12 saga.
He was delighted at this statement from the Foundation.
Here is the key section:
The group, who had come together a number of years ago to seek to address certain governance issues in Scottish football, engaged with the Club and worked independently over a number of years, with the objective of highlighting the value of continuing to evolve the governance rules underpinning Scottish Football and European Cub Competition.
The group of shareholders also privately funded legal costs in the process and the Club agreed in principle to make a contribution to these costs in recognition of the effort and funds that were committed.
For the Celtic shareholder, this represents the closure of a long-running issue that started at the club’s AGM in 2013.
Back then, a group of shareholders had raised their concerns about the need for reform at the SFA regarding their role in the granting of UEFA licences.
Nine years later, the main issue at the centre of Resolution 12 has now been fully addressed at the UEFA level by the new Financial Sustainability Regulations (FSR).
These are a more comprehensive set of ordinances that the Parkhead club has helped to develop behind the scenes.
Overall, this is a positive outcome to a thorny issue.
The return and timing of PL’s appointment has allowed some folk to assert he was in someway responsible for what culminated in The Foundation announcement because PL never left the building.
If true he must have been hiding in a cupboard as the following time line demonstrates:
Note on Celtic CEO Appointments.
Peter Lawwell leaves Celtic on 30 June 2021
Dominic McKay takes up position of CEO
Started at Celtic for transition: 19 April 2021
Started as Chief Exec: 1 July 2021 taking over from: Peter Lawwell.
Left on 11 September 2012
MICHAEL NICHOLSON – CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Appointed to the Board: September 2021
Michael Nicholson was appointed Chief Executive Officer on 23 December 2021 having joined the Board as Acting Chief Executive Officer in September 2021. Specialising in sports law, including 11 years as a partner at Harper Macleod LLP, Mr Nicholson joined Celtic in 2013 as Company Secretary and Head of Legal before being promoted to Director of Legal and Football Affairs in 2019. He has previously served as a Council Member for the Law Society of Scotland and is currently an Arbitrator for the Court of Arbitration for Sport. He is a member of the Legal Advisory Panel of the European Club Association, a Non-executive Director of the Scottish Professional Football League and serves on various committees and working groups of the Scottish football authorities.
The ball leading to the Foundation announcement started rolling in November 2021 by CEO Michael Nicholson about 6 weeks after taking up post in Sept 2021.
Nicholson suggested The Comp Sec invite in a shareholder representative to discuss issue in the run up to the AGM at which the idea of recompense was raised then diverting to Charity (which became The Foundation) with shareholders approval.
i can understand some folk saying PL never left the building but there was no place physically or structurally for PL to exert any authority or influence after June 2013 on his replacement. Michael Nicholson who knew Res12 inside out and the cost to shareholders, not just in cash but endeavour, stress, lies and threats to their security and is a good guy who imo was offering some consolation to shareholders in respect of their efforts.
Merry Christmas all , under proper uefa scrunity they’ll be another hearts or Aberdeen without the history.. have a good one
I want to believe things have changed and that the Huns couldn’t cheat like they did for decades but it’s not what I see , it’s looks very much like the same Scotland, distorted by an empowered Masonic / Hun cabal , I could of course just be paranoid .
One of the ways that mob cheated was to buy players they could not afford using money from taxpayers and other non football sources.
FSR has changed that by limiting what can be spent on playing squad (defined) to a % of football only earnings (defined).
It starts at 90% next season, then 80% and settles at 70% thereafter. The actual sums should reflect what is stated in the annual accounts which are public and depending on the detail provided produces a level of transparency that has never existed before.
Whilst referees might do their best to level up, Celtic should be able to recruit a better quality player than they can and produce team that in Jock’s words (i paraphrase) are so good they make the referees irrelevant.
We’ll see.
I totally get the FSR outcome and congratulate you and your colleagues for that…A HUGE well done…Educate me further however…Will the original crime ever be re-visited…or will the criminals get away with it ?
Great to hear that the hard work by the Resolution 12 group has been successful at last. Chris Mackay and Peter Lawell should also take a bow for their quiet work within UEFA.
Thanks also to Auldheid for keeping us well informed over the years.
The SFA have been a disgrace to sporting integrity over the years in Scotland and there is still a lot of work to be done with this association to bring honesty and a level playing field to Scottish football.
Thank you and there is more to be done indeed – referees- VAR etc etc/
I would just like to thank all the requisitioners for all the years of hard work in not letting such blatant cheating to continue.
If the outcome is good for them then it’s good for me .
HAIL HAIL BHOYS
I hope your hard work and dedication is remember in the history of our club
Thank you. I’ll pass that on. So many to thank for their support and I’ll not make our host blush. 🙂
auldheid – your perseverance and diligence are much admired by me on a personal level. I hope you achieve the end result you are after.
Thank you and given the original purpose was leverage for SFA reform that has been met through FSR and Celtic have reimbursed the legal costs passed on to The Foundation I’m happy with that.
Isn’t it the case that the Resolutioners incurred the £11K legal costs only to fund that our Club didn’t take the issue forward as they had hoped. But now, the Club haven’t reimbursed these costs but have instead donated the amount to the Foundation? So, the implication is that the Club accept the resolutioners might have had a case? I think…..
Exactly.
That is the correct conclusion to draw. but there was continuing resistance from the SFA to fully investigate, not surprising as that meant investigating themselves.
Then along came FSR that probably began around 2018/19 and that provided Celtic with a vehicle to get the old FFP regulation on overdue payables changed to prevent a licence being granted under false pretence ever again.
All the evidence provided to Celtic over the Res12 years and copied to UEFA from 2016 would mean that the chap heading the Development of FSR, Andre Traverso who as Head of Club Licensing had seen that evidence in May 2016 from the shareholder’s lawyer , was already well aware that FFP had been breached , but as he said in his reply to Res12 lawyer in June 2016 ,UEFA could take no action against the then current club RFC Ltd/RIFC PLC as they were a NEW club/company from 2012 and as such were ineligible to apply for a UEFA licence until they had three years membership of the SFA.
Res12 was always about tackling SFA governance and that objective has been achieved in a way not imagined back in 2013 when it was first tabled.
Sorry for such a jaundiced view but I believe it is a two fingered salute to the people who put their money where their mouths are and are out of pocket on our behalf. Not sure if £11,000 is chump change to these guys but the club should have paid the legal fees.
My belief is simply that the board are business men first and foremost and are determined not to lose the blue pound. at any cost, despite the fact that Rangers actually don’t exist anymore and in that they have more in common with the Sevconians than Celtic fans.
Can I just add that while £11,000 is a lot to me I can’t help thinking it is a pittance to a club that spent £5 million on an average goalkeeper a little while back. I think Celtic should lead the way in charity work in the East End of Glasgow. and get involved in food banks etc. They may be doing sterling work behind the scenes but if Brother Wilfred were to put in a Christmas Past appearance he would be stunned at the size of the club but dare I say a little disappointed in their social contribution. Given I know the square root of ‘F’ all about Celtic’s business practices I am willing to keep an open mind.
Money given to The Foundation by Celtic, and I believe £10k was contributed by the club to the Christmas Appeal, is money that is not there to buy a better than average goalkeeper.
It is a balancing act and in supporting the Foundation Celtic create a platform from which charitable work flows which is good for the soul of the incredible number of incredible supporters I doff my hat to who make the effort to raise funds.
You have that wrong, Charlie.
The approval of the folk who put their money where their mouth is was sought to give what amounted to a refund of legal costs from Celtic from their books to the Foundation.
Celtic eventually did the right thing in offering the refund, and the shareholders agreed that their money should go to The Foundation.
I think the idea of Celtic finally doing the right thing is understandably challenging, but it happened.
Auldhead, I am sure you have auld shoulders to go with it so I am surprised you cannot see the flaw in your thinking. If they indeed sought permission then it was not their money to decide what to do with it. Another area the board should look at is the cost of a ” pie and Bovril” (now probably Latte and Biscotti) and give something back to those who show up week after week. Have a great Christmas.
No flaw Charlie. Celtic offered to cover the legal cost and the idea of funnelling it to charity was something requistioners had discussed in the past in the event such an offer was ever made.
The Foundation was an obvious charity and this was put to the main funders or their representative on crowd funding by the requisitioners and the funders agreed that was an outcome acceptable to them. All done properly.
On other issues I have made suggestions to Celtic executives how they could be better handled. The Fans Forum (with changes) could be the way forward there.
Merry Christmas to you.
My thoughts exactly
If I’m reading this right, it means that the word of any particular countries footballing governance needs to be backed up with hard verification.
Hence the “nothing to see here Nyon” from our SFA in 2011 will never happen again and the good grace of a member countries highest authoritative word means f*ck all to UEFA going forward.
This is a major step forward for all oppressed Tims in Scotland 💚
Correct. This was confirmed at last AGM by the Celtic Director working with UEFA on the new regs when asked from the floor.
The executives that Celtic have from Chief down are no mugs.
They were granted a UEFA licence which was totally wrong but they made Millions from this decision
Can’t quite see what ‘result’ has been achieved.
Since addressing SFA mis governance was an objective of Res12 and the proven area of misgovernance was incorrect granting of UEFA licence in 2011, when overdue tax payable existed, then the rewrite of the old FPP rule to prevent a recurrence at club and national association is a result.
Further and not directly related to Res12 but an issue that needed addressed ie Rangers unsustainable spending on players has been reined in by the new FSR requirement that over next three years spend on player squad cannot be greater than 90% of football earnings (clearly defined) then 80% settling at 70% in three years time.
Not exactly millions, Malmo and Maribor prevented that,less than 500K euros I reckon.
They are also dead !!!!
There’s that too 🙂
Sorry, Phil, but I just don’t see how a donation to The Celtic Foundation–wonderful though it might be–is connected to the outcome of Resolution 12. In what way does this generous donation have anything to do with EUFA’s enhanced Financial Sustainability regulations? Also, how do those regulations “fully address” Resolution 12? Where is the guarantee that the SFA will act differently in any future instance of financial doping? Please write another piece explaining this in detail for those of us who don’t know the history with the depth you do.
Rangers breached FFP rules in 2013 to get a licence under false pretence.
FSR makes it much more difficult for a club to lie about the status of its tax liabilities at end of March but also during the monitoring period makes it more difficult for SFA to grant a licence in breach of FSR because they are under scrutiny as well as the club.
The SFA are not the only national association who did not apply club licensing rules as UEFA intended so UEFA realised FSR has to be more than a box ticking exercise than it was under FFP.
At the last AGM the Celtic Director involved in FSR, Chris McKay confirmed when asked from the floor if national associations would fall under scrutiny as well as clubs and he responded yes under The Monitoring changes.
In short UEFA are the guarantee you are looking for that leaves no wriggle room to repeat what they did in 2013.
In earlier reply to Jobo Baldie I explained how FSR became a vehicle for change and how the evidence change was required was provided by Celtic shareholders lawyers to the same UEFA official who later became in charge of developing FSR.
It was on this basis Celtic recognised the value of the efforts of its shareholders and offered to reimburse legal costs after consulting with main sources of funds to pass the £11k sum to charity and the Foundation was an obvious choice.
Excellent clarification. Thank you.