Hearts director admits he’s dumbfounded as Hull City train at Oriam
Hearts director Stuart Wallace admits he is dumbfounded that Hull City are allowed to train at Oriam after the Gorgie side were ordered to stop their pre-season preparations.
The Tynecastle outfit, who have been back since August 3, were left incensed by the decision of the of the Joint Response Group on Thursday to ban clubs outwith the Premiership from training.
The Scottish FA and SPFL reached that conclusion in the wake of high-profile breaches of Covid-19 safety protocol involving Celtic’s Boli Bolingoli, who failed to quarantine following a trip to Spain, and eight Aberdeen players who went on a night out in the city.
To compound Hearts’ fury, English League One side Hull City are currently training at the national performance centre where the Edinburgh side are based, while London club Millwall are due to arrive next week for a pre-season camp.
Hearts are still getting over the disappointment of losing their bid to be reinstated in this season’s Premiership through a Scottish FA arbitration hearing.
And Wallace, who is also the
Foundation of Hearts chairman and represents the members on the club’s board alongside Donald Cumming, admits the latest decision by the governing bodies defies all logic.
He said: “After the news on Thursday, to now discover that Hull City are using the bubble and facilities at Oriam, it leaves you speechless given that we’ve complied with all the safety requests as a team regarding the necessary arrangements.
“And given that we’ve not breached that at all, it seems staggering, but at one level not surprising, that the Joint Response Group’s response to the action of players at other clubs is to impose a restriction on Hearts.
“I’ve been clear over our disappointment in the lack of independence in governance demonstrated towards us in recent months and it shows no signs of abating.
“For me I no faith in the governing bodies. Any hope of any faith being left in the actions being carried out but the leaders of the game has long since vanished on my part.”