| Back to all reports for 16/12/2006 | ||||
| <-Page | <-Team | Sat 16 Dec 2006 Hearts 0 Aberdeen 1 | Team-> | Page-> |
| <-Srce | <-Type | Herald ------ Top | Type-> | Srce-> |
| Valdas Ivanauskas | <-auth | ROB ROBERTSON | auth-> | Stuart Dougal |
| 70 | of 075 | ----- Steve Lovell 87 | L SPL | H |
Romanov appeal ‘lost in the post’ROB ROBERTSON December 20 2006 Vladimir Romanov, the Hearts owner, is set for another major row with the Scottish Football Association after he appealed against a £10,000 fine for criticising referees. Romanov had until last Monday evening to notify the SFA. When the deadline passed, SFA officials assumed he had decided to back down. But yesterday morning Romanov's lawyers informed them that his appeal papers and fee had been lost in the Christmas post and he would be taking the matter further. An SFA spokesman said: "We were contacted by fax by Mr Romanov's legal advisors, who indicated that an appeal had been sent. "However, the original appeal papers and appeal fee have still not been received and are believed to be in the postal system. "The SFA's procedures on lodging an appeal state that an appeal must be dispatched by recorded delivery within seven days after the date on which the decision was intimated to the person concerned. "If an appeal is correctly submitted in accordance with the SFA's articles of association, it will be heard by an independent appeals board in due course." No date has been set for that appeal hearing but it is set to be a drawn-out process. Romanov's disdain for the SFA is well-known; they even changed their rules to ensure they could take action against him after he continually made outrageous statements about referees and the running of the Scottish game. Craig Levein, when he was manager at Hearts, threatened not to pay an SFA fine on a point of principle. Though he finally backed down, it is unclear if Romanov would do the same, as his pockets are much deeper. If he loses his appeal hearing it is believed he will have 30 days to pay the fine. Otherwise it will rise by 4% and continue to rise until he pays. Romanov might decide not to pay at all, regardless of how high it gets, which could have serious repercussions for the club. Hearts refused to comment on the matter. Meanwhile, Craig Gordon is expected to retain his place in the team and keep the captaincy despite being disciplined by the club yesterday for revealing dressing-room unrest over the way the club was being run. The future of the Scotland international goalkeeper still remains uncertain with reports suggesting that Arsenal see him as the long-term replacement for Jens Lehmann. Gordon became the third Hearts player to be called for a disciplinary meeting after the decision to release Steven Pressley and to drop Paul Hartley to the bench for last week's game against Aberdeen. Gordon arrived just before 11am for the Tynecastle hearing, shortly behind his players' union representative Fraser Wishart, the secretary of the SPFA, the players' union. Looking stone-faced and wearing dark sunglasses, he sped in behind closed gates for the meeting held at the back of the club's ticket office, the same venue as the Hartley meeting. Two months ago Hartley, Gordon and Pressley sat shoulder to shoulder as the captain read a prepared statement revealing "significant unrest" at the club. It is likely that Gordon will be the only one of the three to remain at Tynecastle after the turn of the year. The fact that Hartley was dropped last Saturday and was ot promoted from his position of vice-captain to replace Pressley suggests he will be put on the transfer list in January. However Gordon is the club's most saleable asset and a supporters' favourite and keeping him at Tynecastle would keep the fans happy. Gordon emerged at Tynecastle after a 39-minute meeting but refused to comment as he left. Wishart said that, as far as he was concerned, Gordon was not suspended and he expected him to take his place in the side for the visit to Dundee United. He said he could understand the Hearts fans frustrations at not being told what was going on but said any disciplinary hearing and its outcome was a private matter. "Craig Gordon was called to a meeting by the club and was happy to come along and answer a few questions," said Wishart. "Craig was asked to make a number of points and was happy to do so. The detail of that will have to remain confidential. "He is a player, is club captain and will be playing, I'm sure, at the weekend. It's in the hands of the club now and we'll see where we go from here." |
||||
| 