Good Governance from the SFA, No chance !!

[Joe O'Rourke]

It would be my opinion that the CEO of the SFA should have an input and at least some control over all factions of Scottish Football. The SFA are the controlling body, and all the other stakeholders, (apart from the supporters) depend on Scottish Football for their livelihood.

We have always asked for “Good Governance” we have always asked for “Transparency and Accountability” we have always asked for “Honesty and Integrity” we have received none of these. What we have received is the exact opposite of those demands.

There are quite a few Stakeholders in Scottish Football. We have the obvious ones like Football Clubs and their Players and Staff. We have the cash cows, the supporters. We have the Sponsors of the Clubs and the National Team. We have under the banner of the SFA the Match Officials. And we have the media, which comes in many forms.

I have said on many occasions that I think the Refereeing Department is not fit for purpose. I firmly believe that quite a number of the match officials show an allegiance to one particular team in Scotland, that’s not something new, that’s been going on for as long as I have been going, which is over sixty years.

But where the major problem arises is with the SFA itself, if they cannot govern Scottish Football in an Honest and Balanced manner, treating all teams equally, then there is no hope for the continuation in its present form. Certainly the Celtic Supporters are losing patience, we at the Celtic Supporters Association have made contact with the other major supporters groups to set up a meeting to discuss the way forward, and any possible action.

There has been three major incidents in the last couple of week involving Scottish Football and the media, to my knowledge the CEO of the SFA has made no comment whatsoever on any of the incidents. The first incident involved the “Translationgate of Morelos” Celtic Supporters were accused of racially abusing Morelos after he was ordered off at Celtic Park. Now that was a “Blatant Lie”, and no explanation has been given as to who was responsible for the lie, or as to why it was committed in the first place. Was that not an incident serious enough for Ian Maxwell to get involved publically?

The next incident that I believe needed involvement was the apparent banning of Michael Stewart by BBC Sports. Michael happened to give an opinion about Jabba the Hutt, which everyone in Scottish Football outside of Sevco agreed with. Is this club controlling Scottish Football? It would certainly appear so. BBC are a stakeholder in Scottish Football, they have banned Sevco from Ibrox, and it would appear they will do or say anything to get back in again, hence the punishment of one of the best pundits in Scotland.

Another incident, well you could say it’s a continuous incident, is the comments one Kris Boyd on all things Celtic. A couple of weeks ago he had a dig at Leigh Griffiths for getting involved with some numpty Kilmarnock supporter who was giving Griff abuse. He had a dig again yesterday at the Celtic Supporters for assuming the League was over, although I don’t remember any supporter claiming that. If Boyd is allowed to slander a player and supporters with impunity, then there is no control over the content of stories put out by the media.

I sincerely hope that Celtic CEO Peter Lawwell keeps the pressure on Sky Sports for an explanation with regards to the Morelos interview and the fake translation, we all know it was a deflection tactic used by Sevco many times, but who was in on the interview? Are we to believe that Sevco’s PR department allowed the interview and the translation without any checks? Can they really be that amateur? Or was Traynor in charge of it? That might be closer to the truth.

No matter what, it’s time that Ian Maxwell led from the front in Scottish Football. The silence from him on many occasions has been deafening. If you’re not up to the job then step aside and let someone who is take over. I don’t see that happening, unless the supporters of clubs make it happen.

And for good measure. Another away tie in the Scottish Cup, you would think it was deliberate, would you?