Webster gets green light for Scotland

The 24-year-old central defender’s Scotland participation has been put in cold storage by his bitter and protracted contract dispute with Heart of Midlothian, which led to Webster going to the world governing body of football to win his freedom from Tynecastle and move to the Barclays Premiership.

Webster was not among the players as the Scotland squad flew out with Walter Smith today to Kaunas for the group B encounter with Lithuania. The man who has 22 caps to his name has been left out of the set-up since being dropped from the Hearts side last April by Valdas Ivanauskas, the head coach, on the orders of Vladimir Romanov, the Edinburgh club’s owner, who publicly condemned Webster and his agent, Charles Duddy, for breaking off contract negotiations last February.

Webster, who played in five of Scotland’s matches last season, including Italy and the successive away victories in Norway and Slovenia, had to train on his own this summer after refusing to go on Hearts’ pre-season tour of Austria. While that dispute with Romanov has damaged his international prospects in the short term, in the long-term Smith would be eager to restore Webster as soon as possible now that he has finally sorted out his future.

Wigan announced yesterday that they had finally received permission from Fifa to play Webster. The defender’s move to the JJB Stadium has been a long, drawn-out process as Webster freed himself from Hearts, whom he joined in 2000 from Arbroath.

The Edinburgh club had initially thought that they would sell Webster to the highest bidder after it became clear there was no chance of the dispute being settled. Webster obtained an early release from his contract with Hearts, using a loophole in a European Union employment law adopted by Fifa.

He sought advice from the Scottish Professional Footballers’ Association, the players’ union. With the defender three years into a four-year contract with the Scottish Premier League club, he invoked Article 17 of Fifa’s rules governing transfers.

Webster gave Hearts notice of his intention to quit within 15 days of the end of last season, allowing him to move to a club outside Scotland.

Wigan moved in, with the transfer registered a month ago, but only now have Fifa ratified the deal, with a compensation figure to be decided at a forthcoming hearing. The Scotland player — who has been training with the Premiership club — is now clear to make his Wigan debut, much to the delight of Paul Jewell, the manager.

“I am relieved this issue is now almost resolved,” Jewell said. “It has taken many hours of negotiation for Andrew to become a player at this club, but I’m convinced all the hard work will be worth it once the supporters see him play.

“He is a confident and committed defender who adds a huge amount of competition to the centre-back spots, which is extremely healthy for the club. It has been a difficult time for him as he’s not had a full pre-season under his belt, spending a lot of the summer training on his own. However, he has worked hard in training, which is a tribute to his desire to feature as soon as possible.”

Perhaps it is better that Webster is not involved in the Scotland squad for tomorrow’s match with Lithuania. The game is being staged in Kaunas, the home town of Romanov, and Hearts’ millionaire owner will be at the St Darius and St Girenas Stadium to see seven of his players spread across the two teams — three for Lithuania and four (Paul Hartley, Craig Gordon, Steven Pressley and Robbie Neilson) in Scotland’s colours.

A fee for Webster has still be negotiated. However, this is based on the player’s salary at his previous club and the amount of time left on the contract. Given Fifa’s decision, it is likely that Hearts will receive only £150,000 for a player they valued at £1.5 million a year ago.

Taken from timesonline.co.uk