Scottish lower league football locked down for 3 weeks

[Sergeant Wilson]

2 minutes ago, roman_bairn said:

Yep, if we need an independent report, I’d prefer that it went to a proper arbitration process. Like you do in any business contract.
Not a paid consultancy who doesn’t consult with the affected parties....

What business contract? Remember the SPFL is an association of members, who have made their own rules.

Who would refer this perceived issue to arbitration and to which decision making body?

And again, who would pay for it?

[blueone]

On 23/01/2021 at 03:23, Brummo said:

BBC News - SPFL: League 1 & 2 clubs propose Covid testing in 'route to playing again' plan
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55775179

According to the Press and Journal, clubs are looking to resume training on Feb 15 with matches restarting on March 2nd and season completion by the end of May.

What's the likelihood of any of that happening?

[roman_bairn]

who have made their own rules....

And here endeth the sermon.....

[roman_bairn]

What business contract? Remember the SPFL is an association of members, who have made their own rules.
Who would refer this perceived issue to arbitration and to which decision making body?
And again, who would pay for it?

Independent arbiters are normally agreed up front by all parties and written into an agreed contract.
It’s normally paid for equally by the affected parties upon agreement that it’s an agreed next step.
Contacting a consultancy to commission a report is not a review by an independent body. Full stop.

[roman_bairn]

According to the Press and Journal, clubs are looking to resume training on Feb 15 with matches restarting on March 2nd and season completion by the end of May.
What's the likelihood of any of that happening?

If it’s an 18 game league fair to good I’d say. 27 games plus playoffs is going to be a challenge.

[Stag Nation]

4 hours ago, bairn88 said:

What are your thoughts on how the suspension of football was handled a couple of weeks ago? Clubs given no notice and no say, not allowed to talk on the call despite assurances they could, no clear lines of communication since, no plan to restart football, and has taken all 20 clubs to unanimously write to them to present TO THEM a plan to restart? I’m not sure they have governed that at all well.

The suspension of football was decided by the SFA, not the SPFL.

[Sergeant Wilson]

19 minutes ago, roman_bairn said:

Independent arbiters are normally agreed up front by all parties and written into an agreed contract.
It’s normally paid for equally by the affected parties upon agreement that it’s an agreed next step.
Contacting a consultancy to commission a report is not a review by an independent body. Full stop.

Who is complaining about the SPFL and has unresolved issues that need arbitration?I

The point I am making about the rules and membership is that the clubs who constitute the SPFL made the rules. As members of that group they would be taking themselves to arbitration and could be the only ones liable for the cost.

 

[Stag Nation]

1 minute ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

Who is complaining about the SPFL and has unresolved issues that need arbitration?I

The point I am making about the rules and membership is that the clubs who constitute the SPFL made the rules. As members of that group they would be taking themselves to arbitration and could be the only ones liable for the cost.

 

Indeed.  Doncaster and his team are employed by the 42 clubs. Their role is to work in the interests of those clubs. To keep their jobs, they need to keep the clubs happy.

They have no responsibility to anyone else. Not the fans, not the press, not the 'experts' on the internet forums.

[bairn88]

8 minutes ago, Stag Nation said:

Indeed.  Doncaster and his team are employed by the 42 clubs. Their role is to work in the interests of those clubs. To keep their jobs, they need to keep the clubs happy.

They have no responsibility to anyone else. Not the fans, not the press, not the 'experts' on the internet forums.

Does working in the interests of those clubs mean not giving any prior warning to around half of those clubs that they would no longer be able to play, offering zero communication on if they would be offered additional support for this, giving no indication of when and what criteria there is to be able to play again, and arranging a meeting where member clubs questions were shut down?

[Sergeant Wilson]

4 minutes ago, bairn88 said:

Does working in the interests of those clubs mean not giving any prior warning to around half of those clubs that they would no longer be able to play, offering zero communication on if they would be offered additional support for this, giving no indication of when and what criteria there is to be able to play again, and arranging a meeting where member clubs questions were shut down?

Have the clubs raised that issue, had an answer that they don't like, considered their position and found consensus that would allow them to move through the internal process of making a complaint. Have they considered the outcome of the complaint?

All of that would need to be done before going for arbitration. In the first instance I think that would be the SFA.

Given it was only a couple of weeks ago, I doubt they are at the arbitration stage.

(The Stenhousemuir Chairman talking to the press won't be part of any of this)

[Stag Nation]

19 minutes ago, bairn88 said:

Does working in the interests of those clubs mean not giving any prior warning to around half of those clubs that they would no longer be able to play, offering zero communication on if they would be offered additional support for this, giving no indication of when and what criteria there is to be able to play again, and arranging a meeting where member clubs questions were shut down?

They could hardly give prior warning - it wasn't their decision.  It was made by the SFA and Scottish Government.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55616399

 

[bairn88]

2 minutes ago, Stag Nation said:

They could hardly give prior warning - it wasn't their decision.  It was made by the SFA and Scottish Government.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55616399

 

Yeah saw that at the time.

So it was an SFA/gov decision, which was then communicated to clubs, and the clubs then had a meeting with the SPFL in which their repeated requests to ask questions were denied? What a mess!

[Sergeant Wilson]

4 minutes ago, bairn88 said:

Yeah saw that at the time.

So it was an SFA/gov decision, which was then communicated to clubs, and the clubs then had a meeting with the SPFL in which their repeated requests to ask questions were denied? What a mess!

They were asked to submit them in advance.

[Stag Nation]

11 minutes ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

They were asked to submit them in advance.

Sounds sensible. A Zoom meeting with 42 participants trying to ask questions isn't the brightest idea.

[roman_bairn]

They were asked to submit them in advance.

So are you now suggesting that prior warning was offered (it wasn’t) and that all prior question were addressed? (they were not).
The lower league clubs suspension was offered up by the football authorities to the SG to avoid full closure. I blame Celtic.

Ps. Are you now the official spokesperson for the SPFL? [emoji16]

[Sergeant Wilson]

32 minutes ago, roman_bairn said:

So are you now suggesting that prior warning was offered (it wasn’t) and that all prior question were addressed? (they were not).
The lower league clubs suspension was offered up by the football authorities to the SG to avoid full closure. I blame Celtic.

Ps. Are you now the official spokesperson for the SPFL?

Ok, go and shout that through the letterbox at ACAS or the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Let me know how you get on.

I'm not a spokesperson for any one, but I do know some of the rules and demanding non-specific arbitration for an unidentified issue and expecting a result won't get far.

Edited January 25, 2021 by Sergeant Wilson

[banditjag]

1 hour ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

Ok, go and shout that through the letterbox at ACAS or the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Let me know how you get on.

I'm not a spokesperson for any one, but I do know some of the rules and demanding non-specific arbitration for an unidentified issue and expecting a result won't get far.

Fair point but many on here and in the summer many issues were raised by several club chairs. This is not an arbitration issue that many on here have raised, it a question of seeing if the current board are fit for purpose and a wider issues of them giving value for their wage and bonus which was given during a period where money is tight. Who pays? No idea but it seems Doncaster has full pockets

[roman_bairn]

Ok, go and shout that through the letterbox at ACAS or the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Let me know how you get on.
I'm not a spokesperson for any one, but I do know some of the rules and demanding non-specific arbitration for an unidentified issue and expecting a result won't get far.

Neither do I, tbh....

[Sergeant Wilson]

5 minutes ago, banditjag said:

Fair point but many on here and in the summer many issues were raised by several club chairs. This is not an arbitration issue that many on here have raised, it a question of seeing if the current board are fit for purpose and a wider issues of them giving value for their wage and bonus which was given during a period where money is tight. Who pays? No idea but it seems Doncaster has full pockets

Doncaster is an employee of the clubs and can be removed by them. Why would an individual employee be liable for the costs of his employers legal action?

If the board or employees aren't fit for purpose it's up to the clubs to remove them. Not go looking for arbitration from an outside body.

The clubs/ SPFL have the board and employees they want.

Edited January 25, 2021 by Sergeant Wilson

[jagsfan57]

Sounds sensible. A Zoom meeting with 42 participants trying to ask questions isn't the brightest idea.

That happens all the time in business. If it is managed properly it can work fine. It’s all very well asking for questions in advance, but it is likely that some answers could give rise to another question.