NOW SFA MAY FACE FIFA PROBE THE bombshell that Hugh Dallas has been hounded out, following the unprecedented intervention of the Roman Catholic Church, could see FIFA step in. And that would spell big trouble for the the Scottish Football Association and it's increasingly fragile looking chief executive, Stewart Regan. The reason is, FIFA and Sep Blatter take a dim view on any Association or football Federation being interfered with by powerful outside sources - whether governmental or religious. Whatever went on behind closed doors at Hampden, the stimga that will forever be attached to Regan and the SFA is that Dallas only went after a letter demanding they sack him arrived from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. Indeed more than that. Dallas' departure only happened after that letter from the Roman Catholic Church, demanding that he be kicked out, was made public. And made public by the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. It was the most blatant act of mixing football and religion I can recall. In the eyes of many it publicly alinged the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland with what many may believe were the desires of Celtic. Talking about any organised religion and the perception of it meddling in any country's national sport is distasteful. The fact is, it was the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland which let this genie out of its bottle. The departure of Dallas cannot be discussed without mention of the Roman Catholic Church, and any journalist who seeks to exclude the perception of the Roman Catholic Church's part in this affair, is a coward. It does not matter what other issues may have been involved in the departure of Dallas, and which may yet come to light. What matters is perception, and that perception is linked to time scale. What the Roman Catholic Church demanded was Dallas' head on a platter. And they got it within three days. What the Roman Catholic Church demanded is also exactly what the increasingly extremist element of the Celtic support also howled their banshee cries for. What is also increasing, as far as that extreme element of the Celtic support is concerned, is its size. Moderate, rational and reasonable Celtic supporters now appear to be on their way to becoming, if not extinct, then at least a rare breed. The Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, however, could find that a backlash from FIFA will sweep over them, If it does, Regan's bosses at the Scottish Football Association could wish they had never heard of the man whose appointment as chief executive looks increasingly like the worst day's work the governing body has done in many a year. It will make the storm damage done to Scottish football by David Taylor and John McBeth's appointment of Berti Vogts as the national team manager look like a mere ripple in a pond. Blatter and his co-horts in Zurich will surely soon get to hear about what has been going on in Scotland and what the Roman Catholic Church's involvement seems to many to have been. If the history of the way he and FIFA have come down with a heavy fist on other Associations and Federations who have buckled under outside influences - even in dictatorships - is any guide, then the fist which will come down on the SFA will be heavy. And mailed. This is a story with many a twist and turn left in it. And it could well end with Stewart Regan and the SFA left twisting and turning in the wind. Along with the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland.
