Romanov puts Hearts firmly in ‘no’ camp for newco vote
Dundee United will also oppose Rangers
Charles Green’s bid to keep rangers in the top-flight suffered a double hammer-blow last night, when first hearts owner Vladimir romanov insisted a “newco” must not be allowed to inherit the scottish Premier league share of the soon-to-be-liquidated Ibrox club at any price, then Dundee United indicated they would also oppose his application.
ahead of the 4 July vote at hampden on whether the reformed rangers will be admitted to the sPl, hearts and United are the first clubs to publicly announce their intentions.
after an eveing meeting with Tannadice supporters’ groups, United issued a statement to say: “The board of directors of Dundee United are unequivocal in the belief that a form of sporting punishment must form part of the reasoning behind any decision made and, therefore, cannot vote the newco into the sPl.”
The statement from Tynecastle, was considerably stronger.
In a typically frenzied statement, the hearts owner condemned recent owners of rangers for leading them to what he believes was an inevitable demise. The russian-born businessman also called on the sPl to cut its ties with British sky Broadcasting, claiming scottish football can both survive and thrive without the £80 million television contract which has been placed in doubt by the uncertainty over rangers’ future.
In the most unequivocal contribution yet to the debate, romanov left no room for doubt that hearts will be in the “No” camp. While he was sympathetic to the plight of rangers supporters, romanov was visceral in his criticism of their stricken club and suggested their on-field successes of recent years had been secured unfairly. “The opinion of heart of Midlothian FC in regards to the current situation of scottish football is clear and robust,” said romanov. “The football mafia represented by former owners of rangers FC and rupert Murdoch’s media are to blame for some of the worst problems to hit scottish football and must not be allowed back in under any circumstances. as regards the club itself, we can only express our deepest condolences to its supporters, who have been lied to for so many years.
“supporters deserve a new beginning and have to accept the fact that their club has to start from the lower league, keeping order in the sPl and without creating unfair competition with other clubs. It had to happen sooner or later. Victories were achieved not by sporting merits, but through slander, conspiracies amongst players and their poaching via third parties, unfair pressuring of referees, who in themselves are as valuable to the fabric of football as the football stars themselves. all of this brought hollow victories and destroyed football.”
romanov has been a consistent critic of media magnate Murdoch, whose News Corporation has a controlling stake in BskyB. The hearts owner believes scottish football is getting a raw deal from its current television contract, with the new, five-year £80 million agreement with sky and esPN due to kick in at the start of next season. reviving the notion of an in-house TV channel, which has been considered previously by the sPl and is currently operated in the Dutch eredevisie, romanov believes clubs could double their money within the next three seasons. “as regards the pitiful state of scottish football finances, a lot of the blame should be placed at the doors of Murdoch’s media,” said romanov. “They pay huge sums to english clubs, whilst in scotland, where football is better supported per capita than anywhere else in europe and there are more cable or sky subscribers per capita than in england, clubs receive peanuts for their broadcasting rights. I feel that it is absolutely realistic to create a company that would bring to scottish clubs at least the same broadcasting income, and even grow it by 50-100 per cent over the next two to three years.
“This company should be in the hands of scottish clubs and work with those who want to earn money the honest way, instead of conducting business the Murdoch way. They have lived beyond law and all morals, and should now be declared beyond the pale. a society that allows the destruction of integrity in sport, which is a crucial part of scottish culture, is destroying itself – and all for the benefit of a media aborigine.”