DISGRACED Hearts player Craig Thomson may be exiled to play for a team in eastern Europe after being sacked by the Edinburgh club over sex offences, it emerged last night.
Thomson, 20, who was placed on the sex offenders register for five years after being convicted of targeting two girls on the internet, is understood to be considering a loan move to Lithuanian team FBK Kaunas or MTZ-Ripo in Belarus -- which are both controlled by Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov.
Mr Romanov said at the weekend the Scotland Under-21 internationalist would never play for the Scottish Premier League club again.
Hearts also said he would be departing Tynecastle imminently, but declined to say what his destination would be.
Thomson, of Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, was suspended by Hearts last month and left out of the squad for a pre-season tour after he was fined £4000 at Edinburgh Sheriff Court over internet offences involving girls aged 12 and 13.
He had made indecent comments and sent his victims photographs of himself naked.
Suggestions the player may soon be plying his trade elsewhere drew criticism from a leading former Hearts player.
Alan McLaren, who played for the club and for Rangers in the 1990s, said: “I don’t think he should go to another club but it’s not for me to decide.
“It’s not what I would like and it’s not what a lot of Hearts fans would like. They want him sacked by Hearts and out of Hearts forever.
“If he is still going to be on the wage bill for the next two or three years, it’s not acceptable. They have to clarify the position.”
Mr Romanov initially stood by the player, with a club statement putting his offences down to “naivety and possible wrong outside influence”, with he Lithuania-based businessman claiming “mafia” and “maniacs” were trying to destabilise Hearts.
The club performed a U-turn after criticism of its original decision to stand by the player by charities including Children 1st.
It also lost a major sponsorship deal worth £5000 from the bottled water company MacB.
After an internal investigation, Hearts announced they were standing by Thomson on June 24, more than a week after his conviction, before suspending him on June 28.
Two days later, police confirmed they were making inquiries into fresh allegations against the player.
Mr McLaren said of the announcement that Thomson would not play for Hearts again: “It’s a good decision, unfortunately it’s three or four weeks late. The time it took the owner to come to this decision was very upsetting for a lot of people -- the victims, the victims’ families and Hearts fans.
“They wanted it dealt with immediately and it wasn’t. This should have been the priority of the owner. It was a serious decision and it should have been dealt with quickly.”
Mr Romanov fuelled speculation he would seek another club for Thomson, who made more than 50 appearances for Hearts, when he called on people to stop focusing on the player.
Mr Romanov said: “I also understand that it is quite widespread in society, that on the social network it is a very dangerous thing.
“There is something wrong from the wider perspective.”
“There are some very serious things wrong that need to be addressed, it’s not about singling out one person.”
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