Hearts to bring Romanov on board

VLADIMIR Romanov will place himself under the full scrutiny of the Scottish Football Association's legislature this summer if he takes up a formal position of any kind with Hearts.

According to his son Roman Romanov, currently chairman of Hearts, the Tynecastle club's owner will be part of a revamped board of directors to be assembled at the end of the season and may even assume the title of president.

Other sources at the club suggested it is more likely that Romanov Snr will simply be named a director of Hearts, but whatever title he assumes, it is his appearance on the club's official return of office-bearers to the SFA which would finally enable the Hampden authorities to ask for clarification of his role.

So far, the SFA have been unable to call Romanov to account for any comments he has made regarding Hearts and Scottish football as, despite owning 80.1 per cent of the Gorgie club through his Ukio Bankas Investment Group, he is outwith their jurisdiction.

If the Russian-born millionaire does join the Hearts board, he will in the first instance require to obtain the SFA's approval of his connections with two other clubs, Kaunas in his home country of Lithuania and the Belarussian outfit MTZ-Ripo Minsk.

Article 13 of the SFA's articles of association, regarding dual interest in clubs, prohibits any club office bearer from, "either directly or indirectly", having "any power whatsoever to influence the management or administration of another club" without the prior written consent of the SFA's board of directors.

Charlie Mann, Romanov's official spokesman, insists the Hearts owner has no official connection with either Kaunas or MTZ-Ripo Minsk and that he is content for the SFA to examine his links with them.

"Vladimir does not own a single share in Kaunas or MTZ-Ripo," said Mann. "Companies he is associated with sponsor those clubs, but he does not own them. The only club in which he has a shareholding is Hearts. He has no problem about being accountable to the SFA in that regard."

While Romanov has no official position at Kaunas or MTZ-Ripo Minsk, however, it is quite clear that he does indeed "influence the management or administration" of both clubs. As recently as January this year, Edouard Malofeev left his position as head of the MTZ-Ripo Minsk youth academy to become the new head coach of Kaunas.

According to the official UEFA website, which regularly describes Romanov as the owner of both clubs, Malofeev did so "after talks with Vladimir Romanov".

Another potential difficulty for Romanov could arise if Hearts fail to qualify for the Champions League next season and are forced to settle for a UEFA Cup place instead. Kaunas have already secured a place in the tournament and, according to Lithuanian FA president Liutauras Varanavicius, who resigned as a Hearts director earlier this year, one of the two clubs would have to withdraw.

Romanov Snr, meanwhile, will be joined by fresh Scottish blood on the new look Hearts board of directors according to his son. Roman Romanov also praised former Rangers director Campbell Ogilvie for his work since joining the club as general secretary last November.

"I still have the chief executive title but we have an operating director in Campbell Ogilvie, who we believe is doing a good job at the moment," said Romanov Jnr.

"As for the chief executive position, you could say that the job is being done by Campbell. We plan to bring more Scottish people onto the board at Hearts because we recognise that area needs addressed, however we don't wish to rock the boat just now. The club has had many changes this season so we will wait until the end of the season.

"We feel more than anything we need a president of the club, somebody who represents Hearts. We will decide who it is soon, but it is true that it could be Vladimir. We will announce a decision on it by the summer time, although we haven't ruled out the possibility of it being someone else."

Taken from the Scotsman