Tynecastle directors may face SFA action

ANGUS WRIGHT

HEARTS’ directors may be punished by the Scottish Football Association for their remarks about the controversial penalty awarded to Rangers during the match between the sides at Tynecastle last week.

The Edinburgh side want the SFA to investigate after linesman Andy Davis advised referee Hugh Dallas that the Hearts striker Lee Miller had impeded Sotirios Kyrgiakos to allow Fernando Ricksen to win the game from the spot in the final minute.

The Edinburgh club are adamant that there was no foul and staged a press conference on Friday where they called for an inquiry into the "chaotic ending" to the match.

During the briefing, Sergejus Fedotovas, Hearts’ interim chief executive, questioned the "integrity of the decision" to award Rangers a penalty. Chris Robinson, who remains a non-executive director at Tynecastle after stepping down as chief executive, said Hearts supporters deserved to know if the penalty arose from "a wrong call" and not "something more than that".

Dallas and Davis are understood to be deeply concerned by the nature of some of the remarks and are consulting their lawyers over the matter.

The SFA is also monitoring the situation. Andy Mitchell, the governing body’s spokesman, said: "There is obvious concern within the SFA that match officials are being criticised. If this is being done in a way that indicates incompetence or bias, we have very clear regulations to cover that.

"Those articles are within the remit of the general purposes committee and the kind of thing they would follow up."

There is also believed to be disquiet at Hampden about the fact that Robinson is a member of the SFA board and chairman of the referees’ committee.

While Hearts directors may find themselves in front of the general purposes committee, one of their players already has an appointment with the SFA.

Following the penalty award, Hearts’ Lithuanian winger Saulius Mikoliunas ran towards Davis and thrust his chest into the linesman’s chest, knocking him back a few steps. The player was sent off and has been summoned to attend a meeting of the disciplinary committee on 15 March. Mikoliunas has already been handed a two-game suspension for the red card but also faces a potential case of serious misconduct. He will almost certainly be found guilty and be handed another ban.

Hearts have also been asked for comments regarding the objects that were thrown at Dallas and his assistants as they were leaving the pitch.

Taken from the Scotsman