Local MSP and Labour candidate slam Scottish League Cup sponsorship

Mar 24 2011 by Shirley Bartynek, Hamilton Advertiser

HAMILTON South MSP Tom McCabe this week hit out at the announcement that the Scottish League Cup will be sponsored by cash seized from criminals next season.

Mr McCabe believes the money would be better spent on helping those charities directly involved with dealing with the fall out of violence generated from football matches.

He told the Advertiser: “My view is that we should be putting this money into Women’s Aid or Rape Crisis Centres not things that are populist just before the election.

“It is a known fact that domestic violence goes off the scale during certain football matches, such as the Old Firm games.

“The money would be better spent on Women’s Aid rather than diverting it towards a cup competition.”

The £1 million of sponsorship for the football competition has been recovered through the Proceeds of Crime Act and will be used to deliver more opportunities in sport and physical activity for young people through local clubs.

The package is part of the Scottish Government's wider programme of investment in football.

The sponsorship is in addition to the £40 million previously committed to CashBack for Communities projects, which are funded from crime proceeds.

First Minister Alex Salmond said: “I am very confident that this relationship between the Scottish Government and the SFL will be extremely positive and constructive as we promote and highlight key messages to fans and families throughout Scotland.”

Former director general of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency Graeme Pearson, who is also standing as a list candidate for Labour in the South of Scotland constituency that includes Clydesdale, would have liked the cash to have been spent direct within the community.

He explained: “After reading fully what the cash will be used for I do welcome the idea that it will be used to deliver more opportunities in sport for young people in the community.

“However I would much rather prefer to see the money being spent directly in the community. There are a number of community activists out there desperate for cash.”

Mr Pearson served as superintendent at Hamilton and deputy divisional commander of South Lanarkshire before promotion in 1998 to assistant chief constable of Strathclyde.