Romanov demand rejected by angry SFA

HEARTS owner Vladimir Romanov has been put firmly in his place by the Scottish Football Association after calling on the game's governing body to order a replay of the controversial Hearts v Celtic match played on New Year's Day.

The SFA announced on Monday that the dismissal of Hearts left-back Takis Fyssas after 76 minutes of the match has been overturned by a review panel. Celtic went on to score two goals against the ten-man home side, overturning a 2-1 deficit to take all three points.

Romanov believes that if Fyssas should not have been sent off, the result should be declared null and void because the outcome was affected by his team being weakened. He also suggested his club's SPL matches against Hibernian and Rangers earlier in the season should be staged again after claiming his team were "beaten up" during the games.

However, the SFA made the unusual response of hitting back at criticism immediately by issuing a stern statement to rule out any possibility of a replay.

"I want to make it absolutely clear there is no prospect of any match being replayed, and there is no provision in the laws of the game for this to happen, whether in Scotland, Lithuania or any other country," said David Taylor, chief executive of the SFA. "The laws of the game state the decision of the referee regarding facts connected with play are final.

"Where, however, a disciplinary sanction is to be imposed following a match, our procedures allow for a player to appeal the imposition of that sanction in certain circumstances.

"Match officials deserve every respect for the job they do, and the SFA will continue to support them to referee matches to the best of their ability. Unfounded attacks on referees and accusations of bias do nothing to support football in Scotland."

Taken from the Scotsman