Hearts could face further sanctions from SPL as signing ban stands

Some Hearts players failed to receive their September and October wages on time.SNS Group

Hearts have been warned by the SPL over late wage payments to players and staff and now face a second hearing into the problem.

The Edinburgh club admitted breaching league rules on pay for September at a meeting at Hampden on Monday.

A registration embargo continues to be in place over the club.

The SPL issued the reprimand and warning over its future conduct and will now call the club to another disciplinary meeting on Wednesday, to answer a charge of late payments for October.

A spokesman for the SPL said: "A sub-committee of the Scottish Premier League Board today considered a charge against Heart of Midlothian Football Club under SPL Rule A6.21, which concerned the club’s failure to pay coaching staff and players on time in September.

"The charge was admitted by the club. The club has been reprimanded and warned with regard to its future conduct. The club remains subject to a player registration embargo.

"A second charge against Heart of Midlothian Football Club regarding its alleged failure to pay coaching staff and players on the due date in October will be heard on Wednesday, October 24."

SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster said later: "I think it's important we don't prejudge anything and hear what Hearts have to say. We don't know whether the charge is being admitted yet.

"So rather than prejudge the outcome of any hearing, I think it's important we sit down with a clear mind on Wednesday and judge any evidence on its merits."

Hearts paid wages late four times last season as funding from majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov was withdrawn.

The SPL issued a demand in January that they pay players by a certain date, following an official complaint by PFA Scotland, the players' union.

But their previous record was not taken into account by the SPL committee on Monday.

Doncaster explained: "We can't do that. This is a new set of rules that clubs have brought in over the summer.

"This is the first breach of those new rules and we had to treat Hearts just as we would treat any other club that breached those rules.

"It's a new set of rules and the first breach of those rules."

In a short statement, a Hearts spokesperson said: "We accept the result of today's SPL Board sub-committee hearing and are satisfied that this specific matter is now resolved and closed.

"We also acknowledge the second charge against the club, the subject matter of which the club believes has been resolved internally. However, the club notes that this will be dealt with separately on Wednesday."

Manager John McGlynn, who was among the staff whose wages were paid late, told the media on Friday that the club simply did not have enough cash to cover all the salaries.

When it meets again on Wednesday, the SPL has a choice of 19 possible sanctions for the breach of rule A6.21.

They include a warning, a fine, a points deduction, the payment of compensation to a player and/or expulsion from the league.

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