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96% demand FFP for Scotland with bans and stripping as punishment

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In the wake of Manchester City falling foul of FIFA Fair Play regulations and potentially having points deductions both in the future and retrospectively, fans are calling for the introduction of the same rules in Scotland.

Of course, the problem with introducing such regulations is that it will likely affect one of the 42 clubs in the 4 divisions of the Scottish League pyramid, the only one which consistently spends more than it makes and has a history containing a liquidation event.


The poll has now ended but you can see the results by clicking here, the question itself was simple enough: Should FIFA Fair Play be introduced to Scotland next year with title stripping and European bans as punishment for clubs who cheat?

In response, 96% voted “Yes, long overdue” which in itself beckons the question, why wasn’t FFP rushed into Scotland in 2012 when we were told Armageddon was upon us?

Surely a system whereby every club is forced to survive is better to one whereby 2 clubs have the opportunity to spend exhorbitant amounts of money hunting glory and making the playing field, itself already extremely uneven, even more so.

Of course, Celtic are one of the clubs who can spend above and beyond, this isn’t something that will necessarily give us an unfair advantage, if anything we can spend a tenner for their fiver and bury them.

But this isn’t what football is about, trying to kill the opposition will merely kill the game, it is unfair on all of the other clubs who live within their means and for this reason FFP must be introduced to Scotland.

Now I have written in the past that the Oldco should be stripped of its tainted titles, but that isn’t going to happen, no matter how imperfectly registered its players were, there is no appetite for title stripping…. at the SFA.

But as far as the future is concerned, there simply must be safeguards not just for individual clubs but for the pyramid itself.

The English League is world renown, it makes ridiculous amounts of money and is very well administered, currently, both the European and World Championships are held by Liverpool, the runner up was Tottenham with Chelsea winning the Europa League by beating Arsenal.

Such regulations do not seem to be harming clubs who live within the confines of their own balance sheets.

It is time that FFP was brought into Scotland to provide security for clubs, fans and the administration who for whatever reason, didn’t think to make it a priority when the game had to undergo a complete restructure to accommodate one club’s excesses.

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