Ref comments anger Hearts

HEARTS were left seething today by the attempts of Russian referee Yuri Baskakov to justify his performance in Athens and may now lodge an official complaint with UEFA.

The club hierarchy are enraged by Baskakov's allegations that midfielder Julien Brellier deliberately attempted to deceive him on Wednesday evening by replacing jewellery just prior to kick-off.

Baskakov claims Brellier was checked and was not wearing any rings or earrings before the match, however Hearts insist that the player did not see or speak to the referee at all before kick-off as, due to nerves, he had been in the bathroom when the official was making his pre-match inspection of the visiting players.

The official booked Brellier midway through the first half of Hearts' 3-0 defeat by AEK Athens after spotting the Frenchman on the field sporting an earring, and minutes later dismissed him for leading with an elbow in a challenge with Vladimir Ivic.

The club are also incensed by TV footage from the match which shows AEK striker Nikos Liberopoulos wearing a chain during the first half. The Greek was booked on 15 minutes for a challenge on Saulius Mikoliunas but was at no point cautioned for wearing jewellery.

"All we are asking is for consistency in decision making and during Wednesday evening's game there was a severe inconsistency in decision making and judgement," said a Hearts spokesperson. "While there is no doubt that Julien was wearing jewellery, what is in debate is that he was booked for wearing it while at least one other Greek player was wearing a necklace in the first half.

"That same player was booked in the first half, so if the same rules were being applied then the Greek player should also have been shown a second yellow card followed by a red. That clearly didn't happen and this is where questions must be answered."

When asked if Hearts will now make their objections to the referee's conduct official with UEFA, the spokesperson conceded: "We wouldn't rule it out at this stage."

In response to criticism from Vladimir Romanov, Valdas Ivanauskas and the Hearts players, Baskakov said : "Their players do not know the rules. Brellier had no earrings nor wedding ring when the teams were checked. He put those on in the last five minutes before kick-off.

"They are not kids. This rule was introduced two years ago. So doing such a thing is considered to be unsporting behaviour and deception of the referee. It's a yellow card offence. Allegations that I allowed the Greek team's players to play with jewellery on is an absolute lie. Their rings were all taped over as was the wedding ring of the Hearts player Fyssas.

"But Brellier went out to play insolently shining his diamond earrings and big wedding ring all over the stadium. It was a problem he created for himself."

Senior Hearts officials will ponder taking their case to UEFA today.

Meanwhile, the club was set to enter the first-round draw for the UEFA Cup this afternoon as an unseeded side. Their opponents were due to come from a pot containing Schalke 04, Sparta Prague, Garry O'Connor's Lokomotiv Moscow, Fenerbahce and England's Blackburn Rovers.

Hearts have doubts over strikers Roman Bednar and Michal Pospisil ahead of tomorrow's visit of Inverness as well as Christophe Berra. Full-back Robbie Neilson is suspended which could bring a debut for Tiago Costa or a second start for Hristos Karipidis.

Taken from the Scotsman