COURT ORDERS HEARTS BOSS BACK TO SCOTLAND

HEARTS coach Valdas Ivanauskas has been ordered back to Scotland to be sentenced on a speeding charge.

The Tynecastle head coach, who has been on stress-related leave, faces a ban for allegedly doing 97mph on the M90 in Perthshire.

The Lithuanian sent a letter to Perth District Court pleading guilty and saying his health condition meant he did not know when he would be back in Scotland. But the court ordered him to appear personally next month.

In his letter from the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, Ivanauskas, 40, wrote: "I would like to state that I am not in the country for yet an unforeseeable amount of time due to my health condition. Therefore, I attach the copy of my driver's licence. As soon as I get back to Scotland, I will be able to come in and present the original.

"Please understand that I cannot give out my driver's licence due to my current health situation as well as my professional duties."

The photocopy of the licence was sent to the court on official Hearts notepaper, along with his letter dated November 16.

The manager went back to Lithuania shortly after his arrest for "rest and recuperation". He had been under pressure amid rumours that Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov was considering sacking him as head coach.

Taken from the Daily Record