Romanov spokesman quits the BBC after admitting conflict of interests

VLADIMIR Romanov's spokesman has quit the BBC as a result of last night's Frontline Scotland documentary about the Lithuanian businessman. Charlie Mann was shown in the half-hour programme calling a halt to an interview with Romanov, who is the majority shareholder in Hearts via the UBIG group of companies.

Mann, who has contributed match reports to BBC television and radio for a number of years, accepted yesterday that there was a conflict of interests between that role and his work for Romanov, and informed the corporation that he was ending his professional relationship with them. "I don't work for the BBC any more," Mann said last night. "I felt it inappropriate to do so. If there is a choice between the BBC and Vladimir Romanov, I will stand firmly alongside my client."

Mann, who works for the public-relations firm Weber Shandwick, believes the BBC should have had the courtesy to show the programme to him or another Romanov representative before it was broadcast - and indeed thought he had an agreement to that effect. The BBC, however, denied that last night. "The BBC made no agreement to show the programme to Mr Romanov's team before transmission," a spokesman said.

There was uncertainty, too, about the footage in which Mann is seen ending the interview with Romanov. One side claimed it was for reasons of timing, the other implied that it had been done to cut the questioning short.

"Mr Romanov was given the opportunity to answer criticisms about his business activities," according to the BBC. "The interview was halted by Mr Romanov's team despite the fact that he had not fully answered the questions put to him."

The BBC spokesman refused to comment further when it was suggested that interviewees did not normally have to stay before the cameras until they had answered questions to the satisfaction of their interviewers. He also declined to discuss a statement by the Romanov team about the interview's timing.

According to this statement, agreement had been reached to hold a half-hour-long interview. That interview had begun at 5.10pm, and it was not until an hour later that Mann told the producer that they would need to call a halt. He received a negative answer. Ten minutes after that, with time running short for Romanov to get to his next appointment, Mann called a halt.

While those incidents show why it would have been a conflict of interest for Mann to keep on working for the BBC, they were overshadowed yesterday by comments made by Romanov in the story itself - in particular, his criticism of the three senior figures who have left Hearts in recent weeks, the chairman George Foulkes, the chief executive Phil Anderton and the manager George Burley.

Shortly after the BBC interview Romanov met Foulkes at the Scottish Politician of the Year Awards dinner, and the pair had a discussion which was hailed as a reconciliation.

Foulkes himself accepted yesterday that feelings had changed since Romanov's remarks were made, and restricted himself to a brief refutation of the entrepreneur's claim that the departed men had had to go after "a year" of making no progress.

"The whole thing's rubbish," Foulkes said. "The record speaks for itself." Burley won every SPL match for which he was in charge of Hearts, while Anderton's marketing initiatives helped take the club's season-ticket sales to record levels.

Meanwhile, it emerged yesterday that Chris Robinson, the former chief

executive of Hearts, has continued to attend meetings with Edinburgh City Council about the redevelopment of Tynecastle. Both the club and Romanov's spokesman Mann, however, said he was not doing so as a representative of Hearts.

"Chris Robinson is working for Vladimir Romanov on an ad hoc basis on property matters," a club spokesperson said. "He is employed by Mr Romanov on a consultancy basis, and there is no danger of him being employed by Hearts."

Romanov's spokesman added that "there is no chance of him [Robinson] going back on the board".

At the start of this month, however, Hearts supporters' groups were told at a meeting with Roman Romanov, Vladimir's son and the club chairman and acting chief executive, that Robinson's involvement with the ground redevelopment plan was at an end. The Romanov spokesman confirmed that to The Scotsman on 5 November, saying: "Chris Robinson was assisting Vladimir Romanov on an ad hoc basis with background information on the stadium projecting, especially regarding previous discussions. The project has now been moved forward."

Supporters who campaigned against Robinson's plan to sell Tynecastle and build flats on the site had expressed concern about his continued involvement. Meetings with the council had previously been conducted by Anderton and the director Sergejus Fedotovas.

Anderton was sacked and Fedotovas has been on sick leave. Roman Romanov has therefore taken more of an active involvement in those meetings, and if there was any intention to jettison Robinson it has apparently been postponed to ensure Romanov has some assistance in meetings with the council.

Meanwhile, Hearts winger Rudi Skacel will be walking a suspensions tightrope against Livingston on Saturday as the Czech internationalist is one caution away missing the forthcoming clash with Rangers.

Skacel, who has scored 11 goals this season, was booked for diving during Saturday's 1-1 draw with Motherwell.

The on-loan Marseille player was also famously cautioned for over-celebrating when he scored Hearts' equaliser against Celtic at Parkhead in October.

Hearts face Inverness following the visit of Livingston and then travel to Ibrox on 17 December.

And an automatic one-game ban will be triggered for that clash if the 26-year-old is shown a yellow card this weekend.

Taken from the Scotsman