News

Independent inquiry panel appointed

Tuesday, 21 February 2012

The Scottish FA can confirm that it has appointed as Chair The Right Honourable Lord William Nimmo Smith to inquire independently into Rangers FC.
 
Stewart Regan, the Scottish FA chief executive, met with Lord Nimmo Smith today to define the terms of reference for the investigation. Lord Nimmo Smith is a former Senator of the College of Justice, who has served as an Insolvency Judge. In 2002, he was one of five judges who heard the appeal of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, at the Scottish Court in the Netherlands.

The independent panel will include Professor Niall Lothian OBE, a Past President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland who was recently honoured in the New Year Honours List for services to Corporate and Civic Governance in Scotland. It also includes Bob Downes, former Director with the BT Group and currently Deputy Chairman of the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, and Stewart Regan, a member of the panel in his capacity as director of the Scottish FA.
 
The Independent Inquiry shall be afforded the same powers as the Scottish FA to investigate the potential breach of a number of its Articles of Association and shall present its findings to the Board within two weeks.

Stewart Regan, Scottish FA chief executive: “I am delighted Lord Nimmo Smith has agreed to Chair the Independent Inquiry. I am certain the experience contained within the panel will enable us to achieve more clarity on the situation regarding Rangers FC. There will be no further comment on the investigation until it is complete and its findings presented to the Board.”