Published: Thursday, 11th June, 2009 11:55am

Pars censured for 'tapping' Airdrie duo

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THE Pars have been 'severely censured' by the SFA over allegations of "tapping" former Airdrie players Joe Cardle and Steven McDougall.

The club was hauled over the coals by the general purposes committee after an official complaint was made over approaches to the two players.

But the saga hasn"t finished there as, while Cardle has signed for the Pars, they won"t pursue McDougall if there"s cash to pay.

The row broke after Airdrie claimed the pair had signed pre-contract agreements in February without the club"s knowledge.

Under SFL rules, a letter should have been written by the Pars, or a representative such as an agent, outlining their intentions.

Director of football Jim Leishman confirmed, 'We were severely censured by the general purposes committee.

'I thought we were going to get fined but we got our fingers rapped instead.

'We admitted we made a mistake as we didn"t realise we should have sent a letter to Airdrie about our interest in the player.

'We"ve promised it won"t happen again.'

However, the future for McDougall, who turns 23 on Wednesday, hangs in the balance and chairman John Yorkston said it was down to misleading information.

He explained, 'We always said we wouldn"t be signing him if there was a transfer fee or compensation and that has yet to be ascertained. The agent has to find that out. He"s no longer with Airdrie, he"s not signed by them as his contract ran out, but because of his age there may be a compensation issue.'

The issue is far from clear and a spokeswoman for the SFA said, 'Under FIFA rules, up to the end of the season when a player reaches the age of 23, previous clubs can be entitled to compensation.

'If the clubs can"t agree, the SFA looks into it on a case-by-case basis.'

Pars haven"t got money to buy or pay compensation but were led to believe that wasn"t a problem.

Yorkston said, 'We proceeded on that basis because we were told by his agent that the player was a free agent and that there would be nothing to pay.

'That was back in November.

'We got a circular that listed the player, among a list of others that the agent has, that said he"d be a free agent at the end of the season.

'You therefore pay attention when they play against you and, having done that, Jim McIntyre identified him as one he was keen to bring on board.

'We don"t have any money for a transfer fee these days so we said OK, if he"s a free agent and we can agree a wage we"ll sign him in the summer.'

Pars boss Jim McIntyre was on holiday this week but Yorkston said that, despite rumours, Pars hadn"t been after former Kilmarnock and Airdrie hitman Paul Di Giacomo, who has recently joined Ross County.

He added that former Clyde skipper Billy Gibson had not been mentioned by McIntyre as a possible signing target either.

'I knew about the two centre backs a week or two before we signed them but (Gibson) has not been mentioned by the manager,' he explained.

'He might tap me on the shoulder in five minutes and say he wants him but he hasn"t mentioned him so far.'