Romanov rants against referees

Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov may find that he has finally overstepped the mark with a quite extraordinary outburst against referees from Russia, Scotland and Italy yesterday.

The Lithuanian-based businessman attacked what he sees as a conspiracy by match officials which he claims is working hand in hand with a media witch-hunt to undermine his ambitions for the Edinburgh club.

It is not the first time Romanov, who has never taken a seat on the board at Tynecastle, has made outrageous statements about administrators, officials or opponents but his allegations that referees have deliberately cheated Hearts surely must provoke disciplinary action from the Scottish Football Association and Uefa.

Hearts play Sparta Prague in the first leg of their Uefa Cup first-round tie at Murrayfield tonight but Romanov, who embraces the spotlight with the tenacity of an actor, again managed to steal centre stage from his players with an ill-advised rant which made up in bile what it lacked in syntax.

First to feel his wrath was Yuri Baskakov, the Russian referee who ordered off Julien Brellier and Neil McCann in the second leg of their Champions League qualifier against AEK Athens, a match they lost 3-0 in Greece and 5-1 on aggregate.

Romanov said: "I do not understand how a referee that was recently suspended by the Russian Football Federation was appointed for the Champions League qualifying match. He sent off two Hearts players but even after that we were stronger. After he realised that having got only eight players and a goalkeeper we might still win he presented Athens with a penalty after which even the Greek fans, who you would not suspect of supporting Hearts, started booing and were leaving the ground."

Romanov then launched another invective-filled tirade at the media and Scottish match officials, claiming they were working in congress to preserve the Old Firm's hegemony.

Tonight's match will be refereed by Paolo Bertini, who was implicated in the recent Italian match-fixing scandal.

That fact is unlikely to pass without mention from Romanov should tonight's result not be to his liking.

Romanov may be seen as a figure of fun in some quarters but it is unimaginable that the SFA and Uefa will not take action against Hearts to protect the integrity of their officials. Uefa's head of communications, William Gaillard, last night confirmed Romanov's comments had been passed on to a disciplinary board.

Back at the football, Hearts must do without three-quarters of their midfield for the match since Brellier, McCann and Saulius Mikoliunas are suspended.

Deividas Cesnauskis and Bruno Aguiar may return from injury but coach Valdas Ivanauskas stressed the need for discipline from his players, five of whom have been ordered off this season already.

"We need to be clever and I need 11 players on the field," said Ivanauskas, who chose not to give his views on Romanov's comments.

Having been sacked by him before at FBK Kaunas, however, he realises that failure to qualify for the group phase is likely to result in his dismissal. "My only concern is for the team and the club," he claimed.

Rangers travelled to Norway for tonight's tie against Molde, a match in which club captain Barry Ferguson is set to start for the first time since April.

An ankle operation followed by a heel injury have sidelined Ferguson since then but the 28-year-old is ready to return and believes that Paul Le Guen's side can emulate the achievement of Martin O'Neill's Celtic by qualifying for the final at Hampden Park. "I loved it last year when we reached the last 16 of the Champions League and I want to go as far as we can in the Uefa Cup," said Ferguson, who hopes to make his 57th European appearance at the Aker Stadium.

"We know it's achievable as you only have to look back three years to find that Celtic got to the final."

Taken from telegraph.co.uk