First Team
Match Report | Rangers 1-1 Dundee United
23rd November 2024
Dundee United Chairman said "We have been told that St Johnstone have today been granted a permit to allow Jason Scotland to play for them. On a personal basis, we wish Jason Scotland well as he has played no part in what has now turned out to be a total farce.
"We, at Dundee United, applied for a permit for Jason as his previous permit expired. This was turned down by the review panel.
"You may recall that Jason Scotland was brought into this country by Dundee United, we gave him a two year contract, a house in Dundee and helped him settle in the local community. We have subsequently spent much time and money in developing his talent and ultimately in an effort to secure a further permit to play for us.
"On 29th of June, 2005 we received written confirmation from the Home Office that we could not be granted a permit and that Jason Scotland was not considered to be "of the highest calibre and would not make a significant contribution to the Scottish game". Following this, United received the backing of M.S.P.'s, M.P's and an 8,000 fan petition to take the matter to the U.K. Minister for Immigration, Tony McNulty. We also provided further information to the Minister on the player's ability from the current Trinidad manager, his fellow international players and from a vice president of FIFA.
"On July 21, the Home Office Minister wrote "there are no compelling grounds to overturn" the decision not to allow United a permit for Jason Scotland. The Minister stated that he upheld the view of the panel that "he was not of the highest calibre and able to contribute significantly to the development of the game at the top level".
The action taken today to reverse all of this and grant a permit for him to play for a club which up until now has had no connection with the player can only be described, at best, to be absurd and well nigh unbelievable. While we have nothing against St Johnstone F.C., this decision today clearly questions the integrity of the U.K. Home Office system.Today's decision confirms, as we have said all along, that the original decision was categorically wrong. The case put forward by St Johnstone today was the same as we gave to the Home Office Minister in our dossier of July 15. The player's position has not altered since then as he hasn't kicked a ball in earnest since the Home Office Minister turned us down. If any part of the decision relates to him being a regular or more outstanding contributor in a lower division then this goes totally against everything we have been given by the Ministry, i.e., they have said that "he failed to make a significant contribution at the highest level". How does dropping down a division achieve this?
This wholly sorry absurd situation makes a laughing stock of the system carried out when determining whether or not to grant a player a permit to play for a club in this country.
One leading pundit described the way this has been handled as "a bit of a farce". Who could disagree with that description?
"We, at Dundee United, applied for a permit for Jason as his previous permit expired. This was turned down by the review panel.
"You may recall that Jason Scotland was brought into this country by Dundee United, we gave him a two year contract, a house in Dundee and helped him settle in the local community. We have subsequently spent much time and money in developing his talent and ultimately in an effort to secure a further permit to play for us.
"On 29th of June, 2005 we received written confirmation from the Home Office that we could not be granted a permit and that Jason Scotland was not considered to be "of the highest calibre and would not make a significant contribution to the Scottish game". Following this, United received the backing of M.S.P.'s, M.P's and an 8,000 fan petition to take the matter to the U.K. Minister for Immigration, Tony McNulty. We also provided further information to the Minister on the player's ability from the current Trinidad manager, his fellow international players and from a vice president of FIFA.
"On July 21, the Home Office Minister wrote "there are no compelling grounds to overturn" the decision not to allow United a permit for Jason Scotland. The Minister stated that he upheld the view of the panel that "he was not of the highest calibre and able to contribute significantly to the development of the game at the top level".
The action taken today to reverse all of this and grant a permit for him to play for a club which up until now has had no connection with the player can only be described, at best, to be absurd and well nigh unbelievable. While we have nothing against St Johnstone F.C., this decision today clearly questions the integrity of the U.K. Home Office system.Today's decision confirms, as we have said all along, that the original decision was categorically wrong. The case put forward by St Johnstone today was the same as we gave to the Home Office Minister in our dossier of July 15. The player's position has not altered since then as he hasn't kicked a ball in earnest since the Home Office Minister turned us down. If any part of the decision relates to him being a regular or more outstanding contributor in a lower division then this goes totally against everything we have been given by the Ministry, i.e., they have said that "he failed to make a significant contribution at the highest level". How does dropping down a division achieve this?
This wholly sorry absurd situation makes a laughing stock of the system carried out when determining whether or not to grant a player a permit to play for a club in this country.
One leading pundit described the way this has been handled as "a bit of a farce". Who could disagree with that description?
