Yes, that's right, a poll about Scottish Football. Or is it?
This is just as much about business ethics and breaking the law/ crime and punishment and moral responsibility.
I admit two things: First, that I know most people on this site won't really know what this is about, hence the background info below. Second: I am likely to be biased against Rangers (cheating b******s!), so the background info provides the cases of each side ONLY, whether I agree with them or not. Frankly, I find some of the arguments that I have heard put forward to be complete {insert profanity here}, but I will post them anyway, for sake of balance.
Background Info
Glasgow Rangers FC are one of Scotland's oldest Football Clubs. They draw a huge fan base, based in Glasgow (and Govan in particular), drawing mainly on Protestant supporters. They do have supporters in every city and most towns in Scotland, and worldwide support as well, as every football club generally does. Because this support was much larger than any other Scottish Football Club except Glasgow Celtic (who also have a large, mainly Catholic) following, Rangers and Celtic (known collectively as 'The Old Firm') have dominated the Scottish Game for years. Every top flight league championship has been won by either one of the two every season since 1985, when the 1984-85 season was won by Aberdeen (then managed by (now Sir) Alex Ferguson). Back then, you didn't have pri-madonnas who demanded half a million pounds in wages per week, so other clubs like Aberdeen, Hibernian, Heart of Midlothian and Dundee United could from time to time mount a challenge, though the records show these challenges were not constant as opposed to coming in waves. After season 1984-85, Rangers had not finished in the top 3 of the then Scottish League Premier Division (which became its current Scottish Premier League in 1998) for three seasons, nor did they finish in the top 3 the following season. A few years later, David Murray became Chairman, and with Graeme Souness as Manager, Murray vowed that he would ensure the other clubs in the SPL would not be able to compete financially with Rangers.
Despite this, the other clubs tried, with near disastrous consequences. When Aberdeen lost the chance of winning the title on the final day of season 90-91 at Ibrox Stadium (Rangers' Home Ground), their manager (Alex Smith) was sacked and they tried to compete financially, almost ruining the club. At the time, Aberdeen believed they were trying to compete on a level playing field, and that they were the "third force" in Scotland. Although Glasgow is a much bigger city than Aberdeen, Aberdeen FC drew their support from the entire region of Aberdeenshire (or "Grampian" as it was formerly known), and actually have the largest catchment area in Europe. Even Celtic almost ruined themselves before being saved by a millionaire supporter.
In fact, the reason the other clubs could not compete when they had managed up until then was not just because of Rangers' fan base or the financial backing of David Murray. He was in actual fact spending money that the club did not have, paying bumper wages and transfer fees with hypothetical money (recognise this pattern now? World Banking Crisis perhaps?) that amounted to ever-increasing debts they couldn't pay off. None of the Rangers fans paid this any heed as the team on the mark romped to 9 League Titles in a row (by now managed by Walter Smith). Rangers were guilty of financial doping of every club in the league.
But things got worse. Murray set up something called an "Employee Benefit Trust", which when you strip it right down was basically an illegal tax-dodge scheme where players' wages were sent to offshore accounts. Many of their players went into this scheme. Meanwhile, some of Murray's misdeeds were coming to the fore as there was dissention in the fan base. Some fans were beginning to realise Murray was not the Angel they had once believed. Despite this, he retained control of the club for years more, owing mainly to the fact that he could not find a buyer.
Enter Craig Whyte. He struck a deal to buy all of David Murray's controlling shares for £1, on the understanding that he used his money to write off some of the club debt. What the Rangers fans were told was that Whyte had stepped in and used £24million of his own money to write off said debt. In actual fact, the only money of his own that Whyte invested was the one pound he used to buy David Murray's shares. The £24million he had actually been loaned by a company called Ticketus, and that went into one of the companies he owned, which he then re-named "The Rangers Group Limited", and with this company he then bought the debt from Lloyd's TSB. Rangers fans were delighted - for a long time their buying and selling had been restricted by the bank as their debts caught up with them. They did not know at that time about the deal with Ticketus (nobody did, apparently), or that Ticketus were in return getting a share of future season ticket sales - money that as far as the rest of the Board were aware would be theirs (the club's) when the time came. Presumably their budgets were built on this. However, depite repeated requests, not once, in all his time in charge, did Craig Whyte attend or call a Board Meeting.
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) now entered the fray. They had found out about the Employee Benefit Trusts and they wanted the money they were due, which stood at an initial estimate of £49million. Rangers of course bought time by disputing this and the case went to court. It is understood that the actual debt to HMRC is in fact in the region of £150million. Whether it will be found that is the figure they owe - the jury is still out and a verdict is expected soon, but overdue. What is known is that HMRC will have crossed the ts and dotted the "i"s on this case, because when they're done with Rangers they are going after 8 English Premier League Clubs, who have apparently done the same thing.
Hit with all this debt, Craig Whyte had no option but to put the club into Administration in early 2012. The club has been in Administration ever since. The club was threatened with liquidation, but a more likely option (and what is widely believed to be Craig Whyte's plan all along) was that assets including stadium and players would be transferred to the Rangers Group before the club was liquidated, and "Rangers" would survive under a new name. Creditors could whistle. In the mean time, Dunfermline and Dundee United were particularly badly affected as Rangers had sold tickets for Away games against them but not paid the money. The two clubs had to re-evaluate their budget because of the possibility they would never see the money they were owed. It was feared that Dunfermline would fold. (Interesting side point: nobody raised a finger to help them).
Rangers have been looking for a buyer ever since. American Tycoon Bill Miller was named Preferred Bidder by the Administrators (Duff & Phelps) last week, but he then pulled out citing undisclosed debts noticed in the due dilligence and fan opposition as two reasons. Rangers have been punished by the SFA for some of their misdeeds (they have broken just about every financial law there is), but they await that Court Ruling and punishment from the SPL. Their future is uncertain as it may be that a NewCo has to be formed. Under rules of Scottish Football, a club emerging from a NewCo is a completely new club and therefore must enter at the bottom tier - they can't just come into the top flight just like that.
Or can they? Enter the Rangers fans and some accountants.
Okay, I might as well get this said now, and out of the way so that I don't have to worm it into later info. Rangers fans, by and large, live on a different planet. I make no apology for saying so. Most of them think that the world and everything in it revolves around them (Rangers), should bend over backwards to support them, that they should get off with rule breaking because they are Rangers, and that any punishment levelled at them for anything they do wrong is a "witch-hunt". Not all of them, but most of them, are completely and utterly clueless. They've been brought up, generation after generation, to think a certain way and reasoned argument and logical coherence are beyond them. Don't get me wrong, there are down-to-earth, intelligent, reasonable, up-standing members of society that support Rangers. But they are outnumbered by thugs, bigots and down-and-outs that just don't know any better. For example, death threats and the like were levelled at the members of the SFA judiciary panel that ruled to fine them and impose a transfer embargo which they thought was overtly harsh. In fact, it was unbelieveably lenient - they were not stripped of any trophies, they were not booted out of the SPL (or Scottish Football altogether), they were not required to pay monies to various parties - you get the idea. Such was their delusion that they marched on Hampden to demand being let-off and even discussed sanctions on OTHER CLUBS who they believed had "treated them unfairly" - ie been unsympathetic to their plight.
No wonder, then, the Rangers fans (and in fairness, less of them) argue that they should be allowed to stay in the SPL as a NewCo. Most of them just don't get it. But some of them put up a reasonable point: Rangers bring a lot of money to the SPL. That is to say, their large travelling crowds to Away Games boost ticket revenue for other clubs, and their existence is a factor in TV money paid to the SPL - Scottish Football sold its soul to TV broadcasters years ago. The game is hopelessly dependent on TV money and the current deal is based on the broadcasters (particularly Sky) getting to show 4 Old Firm Derbies per season. There is no way the re-negotiated deal would be anything like as lucrative. The other member clubs in the SPL are likely to be told by their accountants to wave through a NewCo Rangers just because they will bring money. "Let us stay for the good of the other clubs" they plead. Certainly, this view has some merit. The majority view is that the morally right thing is that any NewCo should start at the bottom, but that is perhaps off-set by the financial need of their rivals who have done nothing wrong. Even Rangers fans accept this - or a fair number of them, anyway. Obviously, the clubs will also get a trickle-down benefit from sanctions placed on a NewCo Rangers playing in the SPL, although whether what they are owed will be recouped, or whether the sanctions will be as stringent as they should be, remains to be seen.
My question in the Poll is on what SHOULD happen. Any other business and any other club in the same type of debt crisis would have been wound up months ago. Scottish Clubs for example. Dundee and Motherwell have both been in Administration and survived in their present form. Third Lanark and Gretna are no more and nobody argued that they should be saved - and they had not broken anything like as many rules as Rangers. They were guilty of financial mis-management only. But they were allowed to go to the wall. When Meadow Vale changed their name to Livingston, they had to go to the Third Division and start again, as did Airdrieonians when they became Airdrie United. Should Rangers be afforded special treatment? Make no mistake: underlying this whole issue, there are still plenty Rangers fans who genuinely believe that they should get special treatment for the sole reason that they are Rangers.
Needless to say I have my own views on this but I will refrain from posting them until I see what others have to say.