Celtic land probe cost Glasgow council £280,000

PRELIMINARY investigations into historic land deals between Celtic and Glasgow City Council have cost the local authority £280,000, according to reports.

Celtic Park. Picture: John Devlin

The costs were racked up as the council spent hours aiding the European Commission with their inquiries.

This included officials flying over to Brussels more than once, with the bill being funded by taxpayers money.

This came after the European Commission received a complaint that Celtic had benefitted from State Aid with regards to land surrounding the club’s Celtic Park home.

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However, both Celtic and the council were cleared of any wrongdoing as the Commission declined the option to begin formal investigations.

A statement read: “Following complaints of citizens, the Commission carried out an informal, preliminary investigation into alleged aid provided by the City of Glasgow to the Celtic football club.

“Contacts with the UK authorities and information received from authorities however did not confirm that Celtic received any state aid, because the City did not grant any financial advantages to the club.

“Therefore, on the basis of the available information, the Commission’s services did not see a basis to investigate the matter further.”

The decision can be appealed but it would need to be lodged by a ‘competitor’ of Celtic, such as another Scottish football club, which is unlikely to happen.

A source told The Herald: “No clubs made any attempt to get involved in the case and there no reports any did.

“It is highly unlikely any would because they may not want to attract attention to anything that may be perceived as assistance they may have received from local authorities or other public bodies over the years.”

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