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Any assurances over the future of an independent Scotland football side obtained by the British Government would be “meaningless” and will ultimately result in the end of Scotland’s national football side, SNP MSP Christine Grahame has warned. Ms Grahame, who also happens to be Convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee has written a strongly worded letter to the Secretary of State for Scotland, Jim Murphy MP, calling on his to stop his campaign to undermine the Scotland national football squad. In an open letter to Mr Murphy, Ms Grahame highlights the “catastrophic precedent” that will be set if the proposal to form a GB football team are progressed. Ms Grahame said:
“There is a concerted effort by British Ministers and the English Football Association to force Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish players into a team that everyone knows will essentially be an England squad at the 2012 Olympics. There is a clear danger in setting that precedent and there is no question that it will threaten the future independence of the Scotland national squad.
“I believe such a move, if it is allowed to proceed, would result in there being no Scotland national squad in a few short years.
“British Government documents I obtained just a few months ago make it clear that no agreement or assurance that FIFA can offer to the British Government or anyone else, would be binding on FIFA in the future. The British Government know this, yet they are committed to hacking the legs off the Scotland national squad.
“Scotland fans don’t want this. The Scottish Football Association don’t want this and most Scottish politicians recognise the threat to our independent football status. So why is Mr Murphy and his Anglo-centric colleagues in the British Cabinet so determined to press ahead with this?
“It is no secret that the British Prime Minister openly supports the England side in international tournaments, regardless of whether Scotland are playing or not and despite being born in Scotland. It is no secret either that he must present himself as more Anglo-friendly in order to secure votes in the South of England which are uncomfortable with what they regard as a “Scottish Raj” running their country. However the majority of Scots will never forgive him if he and his Ministers pursue a campaign that will result in the loss of the Scotland national football team.
“It’s time Scots fans to give the British Government the red card over this ludicrous proposal.”
Ms Grahame has also lodged a parliamentary motion which urges the British Government to halt its campaign for a GB Football Team.
END
Note to editors: In an email exchange between senior officials at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in which they are discussing the establishment of an Olympic GB Football team and assurances given by FIFA President Sepp Blatter over the future status of the Scotland team, senior civil servant at the department, John Gilmour writes: “The problem is that neither Blatter nor the current FIFA Council can bind their successors [to an assurance on the future status of the Scotland team]”.
Text of parliamentary motion: British Government red card over GB football team proposal
That this parliament notes the comments of the Secretary of State for Scotland Jim Murphy in relation to the proposal to have Scots players take part in a GB football team at the 2012 Olympic Games in London following his discussions with FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke on the 11th of November; notes that similar assurances on the continued independence of the Scotland international side were previously sought from Sepp Blatter, FIFA President by the British Prime Minister only for it to be later to be revealed that any such assurance would not be binding on any of Mr Blatter or his colleagues successors; notes further the dangerous precedent Scottish participation in a GB team would set in eroding the longstanding, independent Scotland national squad and urges HM British Government to desist from undermining Scotland’s national squad.
Text of letter from Ms Grahame to the Secretary of State for Scotland:
Mr Jim Murphy MP
Secretary of State for Scotland
The Scotland Office,
Edinburgh
Dear Mr Murphy,
FIFA assurances over Scotland’s independent national football team
I write to you with regard to your recently reported comments on the BBC and elsewhere with regard to assurances you claim to have received from the FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke.
You may be aware that papers I obtained under Freedom of Information in September this year highlighted similar discussions your Ministerial colleagues have had with FIFA this year on the same subject and the conclusion, following discussions with FIFA President Sepp Blatter, that any such assurances given by FIFA would not be binding on their predecessors.
I would be pleased if you could advise what form these latest assurances have taken and whether they would be legally binding on FIFA, now and in the decades to come to ensure the independence of the Scotland international football side.
The concern I have, a concern shared by the SFA and thousands of ordinary Scotland fans, is that any such assurance is meaningless and that the campaign the British Government has undertaken to bring forward a GB/England team clearly threatens the independence of the Scotland team. Such a campaign is reckless, dangerous and will be deeply unpopular in Scotland and so I would ask that you persuade your Ministerial colleagues to drop this ridiculous and ill founded proposal immediately.
You must be aware of the catastrophic precedent that would be set if your aim of a GB football team were to be realised and can only assume it is being pursued for political and ideological purposes which have little or nothing to do with Scotland’s footballing future.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours for Scotland,
Christine Grahame MSP
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