Hearts to learn their fate

Sports writer

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Hearts will discover tomorrow their punishment for failing to pay wages to six players and staff on time for two consecutive months.

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Richard Wilson

A sub-committee of the Scottish Premier League will meet to hear the club's case, after yesterday issuing a reprimand to Hearts missing the salary payment date for September, which had also prompted an automatic registration embargo.

Although these are not the first instances of Tynecastle staff failing to receive their monthly wages on time, they are the first two breaches under the SPL disciplinary rules agreed by all 12 member clubs during the summer. Although the sub-committee meeting yesterday, involving Neil Doncaster, Iain Blair and the Dundee United chairman Steven Thompson, knew that Hearts had also failed to pay some of their players and staff in October, they could only consider the September breach, and issued a reprimand.The same sub-committee will reconvene tomorrow, and can apply any one of 18 set SPL sanctions, which range from the reprimand to fines, points deductions and even expulsion. The committee is likely to have to decide whether a fine is appropriate since the breach of rules is due to Hearts' financial position, although Doncaster did concede that the SPL's failure to pay clubs an instalment of the broadcast revenue on time was a factor in September."The sub-committee had to bear in mind that this was a first offence under new rules brought in during the summer, we had to treat Hearts the same as we would any other club with the set of facts under these new rules," Doncaster said. "The potential punishment for any breach of SPL rules is exactly the same, there is no tariff that's applied. It's just what the board or a sub-committee considers appropriate, with 18 sanctions identified under the rules."A board meeting of the SPL yesterday also discussed league reconstruction, with clubs continuing to have "a real appetite" for change. However, talks will continue on a motion to change the voting to a 9-3 majority on all matters, with no resolution reached.Darren Barr, the Hearts midfielder, insisted yesterday, though, that the issue with unpaid wages not affecting the team's form. "Our focus is just on winning games," he said. "That's all we can do. We just want to get three points and do well for the manager."

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Hearts to learn their fate

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