| Controversies – Cadete and Farry |
At the meeting of your Executive Committee, on 28 January, Celtic wishes the following complaints dealt with:
Public statements by Mr James Farry, Chief Executive.
a) In his capacity of spokesman of The Scottish Football Association (SFA) Mr Farry is quoted in an extensive interview article in Scotland On Sunday, dated January 19, 1997 (copy attached). In it he expresses the opinion that investment in Scottish football by entrepreneurs (specifically Mr McCann, principal shareholder and Managing Director of Celtic) is, and has been a detriment to the well-being of Scottish football.
While I can state that Mr McCann is unconcerned by this personal criticism, and along with other substantial investors in the body of our 10,000 shareholders who have invested pounds 28.75million in Scottish football, does not expect any appreciation from the many clubs who benefit from Celtic's enhanced contribution to the game – and has received little – this Club, as an active member and co- employer of Mr Farry, is greatly concerned by the apparent position of the SFA on this issue.
If it is the position of the Association that any investment made in a member Club in the hope, or with the objective, of improvement in its value, as well as supporting and enhancing that Club's performance, is unwelcome then we believe that this position is untenable and against the interest of improving Scottish football and serving its public and its participants and must be changed.
On the other hand, if Mr Farry has misled the public regarding the Association's policy then this matter must be addressed and the policy made clear to Celtic and the public. Just as importantly, we would state that Mr Farry has then acted irresponsibly, without authority and to the detriment of both Celtic and the game as a whole and should be censured and disciplined accordingly. For the information of your Committee, and indeed Mr Farry, in the event you decide that a public apology is also appropriate, Mr McCann holds no dividend bearing preference shares in Celtic and has made it clear that the Club is following a policy of reinvestment of any earnings rather than the payment of ordinary dividends during the period of his tenure.
The above represents an extremely important principle and should be addressed immediately. I trust you will genuinely consider the facts and progress accordingly. It is imperative that there is effective leadership of the SFA and it is properly managed and controlled.
b) Mr Farry has made a statement of a similar nature in the "Herald" of 7 January , 1997 (copy attached) in which he states, "there are too many foreigners already in our game". The impact of this statement by the representative of a leading organisation within a European Community country should be of concern to you and your colleagues – it is certainly of great concern to Celtic Football Club, which exercises no discrimination in the employment of foreign players or staff.
I further note, once again, if it is the policy of the Association to discourage the employment of European nationals in contravention of the European employment law, then we believe this is something which should be corrected at once – or your representatives ordered to correct the position publicly. You should be aware that I also raised the matter in correspondence with the Referee's Committee.
On the above two matters Celtic has maintained the position that the SFA, which penalises players and officials of clubs for statements of a damaging or inflammatory nature, or indeed critical of match officials for example, should also hold its own representatives to at least as high a standard of behaviour.
JORGE CADETE
After the end of last season, when the Office Bearers of the Association constituted its governing body, Mr McCann, on behalf of Celtic, demanded, on the establishment that the Association's secretariat had failed to properly register this player on the required date, a public apology by the Association and the reimbursement to Celtic of two weeks of the player's remuneration covering the period he was wrongly prevented from playing. This demand has not been met to date and I now ask your Executive Committee to make a determination. If, however, your Committee rejects Celtic's demand as above, we wish to be advised of the channel of redress that can be followed, presumably through UEFA, against the Association and if such channel is not available we wish to have your Committee's advice that they have no objection to Celtic pursuing a claim for the above against the Association through the civil courts.
I look forward to being advised of the actions of your Executive Committee.