Hearts rant

[iseered]

Hearts issue rant against 'mafia'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jun/25/hearts-issue-spectacular-rant

• Tirade against 'outside influences on players and club'
• 'Each year we are forced to fight against these maniacs'

Hearts have launched a remarkable tirade against external influences – including "mafia" – they believe are having a damaging impact on the club.

Hearts are owned by the Lithuanian businessman Vladimir Romanov, who has a history of eccentric and often controversial rants since first buying a stake in Hearts in 2004. The latest comments, attributed to the Hearts board of directors, are "in relation to outside influences on players and the club".

The statement on the Hearts website, read: "Every year Hearts fights to be in the top three, but even last season in the last 12 games of the season it was almost like someone replaced the team with a different one. Whose fault is that? Players? Manager's? Or it is mafia.

"Stealing players, bad games, problems with the law – all of that on top of record SFA fines. Problems are just shifted to another level. Mafia are dragging kids into the crime, in order to blackmail and profit on them. It is not possible to separate these people from paedophiles, and you don't need to do that."

The statement continued: "Each year we are forced to fight against these maniacs harder and harder. We are standing in their way, not letting them manipulate the game of football in the way they want.

"As such they undermine us in every possible way they can. The task of the club is to tear these kids out of hands of criminals."

 

[Jürgen4PM]

Going off topic but Ballotelli has been getting shown around some places in Italy by "made men" during his holiday.

 

[Rosco]

I wonder if the owners rant was in some way connected to this:

Charity Children 1st has called for Hearts player Craig Thomson to be sacked after he was put on the sex offenders register.

The 20-year-old has been convicted for indecent behaviour towards two girls aged 12 and 14 on the internet.

The club said they were keeping the player as there were mitigating circumstances which provided assurance his conduct would not be repeated.

Children 1st insisted Hearts need to look again at the issue.

The charity's policy manager Kate Higgins told BBC Radio 5 live: "We believe that Hearts football club needs to look again at this situation, not taking action to protect children from the risk of sexual harm is unacceptable.

"Allowing convicted sex offenders to continue working where they will have direct and indirect contact with children is wrong."

Thomson was placed on the sex offenders register earlier this month after pleading guilty to two charges of indecent behaviour.

He was also fined £4,000 for his lewd, libidinous and indecent behaviour towards two girls, aged 12 and 14, over the internet.

Hearts said it would go through the "necessary internal procedures relating to the case".

On Friday the Scottish Premier League club said Thomson's "grave error of judgement" was due to "naivety and possible wrong outside influence".

The full-back resumed training at the club with immediate effect.

He issued an apology via the club website, saying that he is "fully aware that I have let everyone down".

Hearts posted two statements on the matter on their website. The first read: "The club views this matter very seriously and does not condone the behaviour of the player. Appropriate action to prevent any further development of unlawful activities has been taken.

"In reaching this decision, the club accepted that there are sufficient mitigating circumstances that provide significant assurance that the player's conduct, no matter how distasteful, was the result of a grave error of judgement due to naivety and possible wrong outside influence rather than anything more sinister and it will not be repeated."

Then, early on Friday evening, the club issued another statement which refers to "outside influences on players and the club".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-13918842