Hearts are cleared of failing to act in good faith over wages payment

By STUART BATHGATE
Published on Saturday 28 January 2012 05:19

HEARTS have been cleared by an SPL Board sub-committee of a charge of “failing to act with the utmost good faith” in their dealings with the league over the payment of players’ salaries.

The Tynecastle club had been accused of not complying properly with a ruling that they should pay their players on time on 16 January, but the sub-committee found that, although some salaries did not arrive until the 17th, Hearts had acted in a manner which showed they were acting in good faith.

The charge arose from an SPL ruling at the start of the year after 14 players had complained through their union about the late payment of their salaries in the last three months of 2011. The league ruled on 4 January that Hearts should pay the outstanding December salaries within seven days – in the event, they did so within hours – and that they should pay subsequent salaries in time on the 16th of each month.

Hearts insisted last week that they had done that, but an SPL spokesperson suggested they had provided evidence of their failure to do so. The difference of opinion appeared to centre on when the money was expected to clear into the players’ bank accounts.

Hearts argued that they had processed all payments on the afternoon of the 16th and could not be held responsible if certain banks took longer to clear the funds: the SPL’s apparent interpretation was that the terms of their employees’ contract obliged the club to ensure the money was available on the 16th. It was an apparently minor difference, but the SPL seemed intent on applying the letter of the law.

Yesterday, however, the sub-committee decreed that, although the letter of the law had indeed been breached, that did not mean Hearts had acted in bad faith. The club, which could have been punished by a fine or a points deduction if found guilty, was therefore cleared.

“An SPL board sub-committee determined that for the club to have complied with the order of 4 January, it had to have the players’ wages in the players’ bank accounts and available for their use by not later than midnight on 16 January,” a league statement said yesterday. “In fact the wages did not reach the players’ bank accounts until the morning of 17 January.

“However, the sub-committee found that the club’s directors believed that, by irrevocably instructing their bank on 16 January, that was sufficient to make payment and comply with the order. Because the club’s directors believed that they were complying with the order, Heart of Midlothian were acting in good faith. Accordingly the charge against the club was dismissed.”

The Hearts players who had brought the complaint said last week that, now their wages were up to date, they did not want their club to be punished. Manager Paulo Sergio had argued it would be unfair to deduct points, as that would be inflicting a second punishment on players who had already had to cope with financial problems since October.

Yesterday a Hearts spokesperson said: “We are satisfied at today’s outcome. Both the SPL and ourselves worked constructively to assess the circumstances that led to the hearing and we can now move on, having resolved the situation.”

Taken from the Scotsman