Morton and Raith Rovers rebuke Levein’s allegation

MORTON and Raith Rovers have reacted with anger after Craig Levein accused the Championship clubs of conspiring to sabotage Hearts’ return to training.

The Jambos, who began their pre-season on August 3, have been forced to halt preparations until next Monday following a diktat from Scottish football’s Joint Response Group.

No team below the Premiership is allowed to train until August 24 in the aftermath of high-profile breaches of Covid-19 safety protocols by the “Aberdeen 8” and Celtic defender Boli Bolingoli.

Hearts are furious that, despite complying to the same precautions as top-flight sides, they have been included in the ban.

And former Tynecastle boss Levein – who ironically had a spell in charge of the Kirkcaldy outfit – suggested that Hearts have suffered due to complaints from Morton and Rovers.

Levein said on BBC Scotland’s Sportsound: “I didn’t realise that a couple of teams had actually complained to the SFA that Hearts had had an unfair advantage.

“I believe it was Morton and Raith. Those teams also had the opportunity to start training two weeks ago, but they didn’t want to.

“What they wanted to do was keep their players on furlough because they wouldn’t spend money. How can this be fair?

Those comments sparked a furious reaction from the Greenock outfit yesterday.

Morton confirmed that they have contacted BBC Scotland and have requested “that the broadcaster addresses this issue as a matter of course”.

They said “We can categorically state that no such complaint was ever despatched from us to the SFA”. Raith also denied the allegation.