Rangers newco will not get Hearts vote, says Vladimir Romanov
Hearts plan to vote against Rangers being allowed into the Scottish Premier League when clubs vote next month.
The company which ran Rangers until last week is soon to be liquidated and Charles Green's consortium has bought the Ibrox club's assets.
The company which ran Rangers until last week is soon to be liquidated and Charles Green's consortium has bought the Ibrox club's assets.
Green wants his 'newco' Rangers to replace the old one in the SPL and needs the support of seven other clubs.
Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov says "the football mafia represented by Rangers' former owners" should not gain entry.
In a lengthy statement on the Hearts website, Romanov expressed "deepest condolences'" to Rangers supporters "who have been lied to for so many years".
The issue of whether Rangers will appear in next season's SPL gathered pace when attempts to exit administration via a company voluntary arrangement failed and the club began heading for liquidation.
Should Green's group not get the required votes for top flight football, they would have to apply to fill the vacancy that would be created in the Scottish Football League and attempt to work their way up from Division Three.
Motherwell have asked their supporters to vote on how the Fir Park club should vote on Rangers' application on 4 July while Kilmarnock have expressed concern about the financial implications of an SPL without the Ibrox side.
Rangers entered administration in February over unpaid tax and HM Revenue Customs' vote against the CVA proposal prompted the setting up of a newco.
"It had to happen sooner or later," said Romanov.
"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.
"There is a saying about digging a grave for someone: you get it for yourself.
"Without these people football will become cleaner and stronger.
"Supporters deserved 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."
Romanov also turned his ire on media mogul Rupert Murdoch for what the Lithuanian-based bank owner perceives as an imbalance between television revenues for clubs in Scotland in England.
"As regards the pitiful state of Scottish football finances, a lot of the blame should be placed at the doors of Murdoch's media," added 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." (Preach it)
Rangers: in or out?
- The company which had run Rangers until 14 June 2012 will shortly be liquidated
- A new company (newco) has bought Rangers' assets, including Ibrox Stadium
- The newco wants to replace the old company in the Scottish Premier League
- An 8-to-4 majority of SPL member clubs, including Rangers, is required for the newco to be admitted
- If 5 or more clubs vote no, Rangers will need to apply to be admitted to Scottish Football League Division Three
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