'..as you will see, there is nothing up my sleeves....'
After the embarrassment of the CIS Cup semi-final draw being mucked up by Presiding Officer of the Scottish Government, MSP Alex Fergusson, the SFA will be crossing all their fingers that their semi-final draw will go without a hitch. They have managed to secure two top names in world football to carry out the draw for their top competition. Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, presidents of FIFA and UEFA respectively, are scheduled to attend the International Football Association Board meeting on March 8 at Gleneagles. Taking the opportunity to keep Scotland in the minds of the top men, the SFA have arranged for the two men to carry out the draw alongside SFA President George Peat.
SFA Chief Executive Gordon Smith was not about to miss the chance to raise Scotland's profile when he attended a meeting at UEFA Headquarters in Nyon. He spotted Platini and took the bull by the horns and offered a personal invitation to the UEFA president. Smith said: "We had been working behind the scenes to try and arrange for Mr Blatter and Mr Platini to make the draw so I took the opportunity to speak directly to Michel when I met with him today. He was delighted to be involved. We are all tremendously excited about having the two of them take part in the draw for the semi finals of what is one of world football's great domestic cup competitions."
