“No Unfair Competitive Advantage” for Rangers – How Did the Commission Conclude That?

So far I have tried to explain, insofar as I understand the reasoning, the basis for the Nimmo Smith Independent SPL Commission finding that Rangers oldco broke the rules – it was “deliberate non-disclosure” rather than a clerical error or administrative oversight.

I have also explained how the Commission came to the conclusion that, even though the rules about documents needed for registration were broken, this did not change the status of registered players and thus there were no ineligible players. This was despite the fact that, before this case, it was understood that a defect in registration did invalidate the registration.

The third area for me to look at is that of “unfair competitive advantage”.

How, observers ask, was there not a “competitive advantage” as a result of these manoeuvres. As was heard in evidence in the FTT, the use of the EBT schemes allowed Rangers to afford to pay players money that could not have been afforded if all had been paid by a traditional route, such as by way of salary. How, the question is asked, does that not amount to a competitive advantage, or at least an attempt to gain one?