Hearts escape but face an anxious wait over UBIG fate

Hearts have escaped a points punishment that would have had them relegated from the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

The board of the SPL judged yesterday that the club's majority shareholder, Ukio Banko Investicine Grupe (UBIG), has not suffered an insolvency event.

The decision was based on the information currently available to the SPL board, who consulted legal experts in Lithuania. It had appeared last week that UBIG had been placed on a list of insolvent companies in Lithuania, but the SPL board "are not satisfied on the basis of information currently available to it that an insolvency event as defined by SPL rules occurred in respect of UBIG during 2012-13".

However, if information becomes available that proves UBIG were insolvent before Sunday's final day of the season, then Hearts would be subject to an 18-point deduction that would move them to the bottom of the SPL, beneath Dundee who have been relegated. If UBIG are formally placed in insolvency in the coming weeks it is likely Hearts would begin next season with a 15-point deduction, as prescribed in the SPL rules.

"There were people in Lithuania defining the facts for us," said Ralph Topping, the SPL chairman. "There's a story that an employee wrote to some ministry and said the company is a busted flush – but that was a fairly informal process. Weighing up that position against our SPL rules, it's quite clear that there is no insolvency event at this point based on the information we have.

"We're looking at things as they currently stand. It's a complex matter and we needed top-flight lawyers to advise us. You can only play what's in front of you, and you can only muster the facts as they are. If anything else emerges, we'll be duty-bound to look at the information we get."

The SPL board – Topping, the chief executive Neil Doncaster, Celtic director Eric Riley, Dundee United chairman Stephen Thompson, Aberdeen chief executive Duncan Fraser and Kilmarnock chairman Michael Johnston – met after yesterday's full SPL meeting. Dundee may yet challenge the ruling, but would have to provide information that has not been con-sidered by the SPL board.

"I'd rather not talk in hypotheses," Topping said. "We wanted to make it quite clear to everybody concerned – to be fair to Hearts, to be fair to Dundee, and to the rest of Scottish football – what our view was. I don't expect a challenge, but if it is forthcoming then we will deal with it at that time. We have a good relationship with all our clubs. We are looking to communicate any views as clearly as we can based on the info we've got. We have to deal with what is in front of us."

Taken from the Herald