FORMER CELTIC DEFENDER Darren O’Dea feels that Rangers should be stripped of all their league titles if they are found guilty of breaking tax rules.
Last week, the UK’s Revenue and Customs won its appeal over the Glasgow club’s use of a controversial tax scheme between 2000 and 2010.
During that time Rangers won five league titles with last week’s ruling found the now liquidated company that ran the club should have paid millions of pounds in tax on the scheme.
And while that ruling can still be appealed to the Supreme Court, O’Dea told BBC Scotland yesterday that he believes any titles won in that time should be taken away from his former Old Firm rivals.
“If they were found guilty, it’s a difficult one. I certainly feel Rangers as a club should be stripped of the titles.
“I think it’s an obvious sporting advantage they’ve had.”
A previous Scottish Professional Football League investigation ruled that Rangers did not hold an unfair sporting advantage over their rivals but the board of the SPFL did meet last week to discuss the most recent development.
O’Dea admits he would, however, have sympathy for the players involved, even if their medals are now meaningless.
“”I wouldn’t be keen to see them (the players) stripped of their medals, but as a club, the people that were in the wrong, yeah, I fully think if they are found guilty, they should be stripped of the medals.
“Truthfully, I wouldn’t want the medals, they wouldn’t really mean anything to me. But it’s not really what I want, what Celtic players want – it’s what’s right for football and sport in general.
“I played against some very, very good Rangers players and it would be very disappointing for them. The only people they could blame are the people who ran Rangers at the time.”
