In-administration Hearts docked 15 points - SPL

Hearts have been docked 15 points for the start of the new season after going into administration, the Scottish Premier League said today.

“As Heart of Midlothian is subject to an Insolvency Event, a 15 point deduction will be applied to its total points in the League Championship for next Season 2013/14,” the SPL said on its web site scotprem.com.

“In addition, Heart of Midlothian is subject to an embargo on Registering Players with the SPL whilst in administration.”

The SPL announced the 2013/14 fixture list on Wednesday, with Hearts – four-time champions and eight-time Cup winners – beginning the new season against St Johnstone on August 3.

That will be followed by an opening game at their Tynecastle home against Edinburgh rivals Hibernian a week later.

But expectations for the new season have been hit after the club on Monday said it was poised to appoint administrators and had lodged papers with judicial authorities in the Scottish capital.

Auditors BDO were appointed to control the Jambos’ financial affairs on Wednesday, Britain’s domestic Press Association news agency said.

The appointment went through without a court hearing, it added.

Hearts last week put their entire squad up for sale in a bid to raise capital to meet massive debt and other repayments but failed to pay its players on time, leading to a Scottish Premier League (SPL) transfer embargo.

The club is £25 million ($39 million, 29 million euros) in debt to two Lithuanian companies once controlled by majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov which hold large stakes in the club but are now being declared insolvent.

Scotland‘s First Minister Alex Salmond, a Hearts supporter, said in a speech that he, other fans and players were all affected by the crisis.

“Like other clubs who’ve gone through that process, it’s a great time of anxiety for the employees of Heart of Midlothian,” he added.

“One comfort I would have at this time is that other clubs have gone through and emerged at the other end of the tunnel — and that’s what I fully expect Heart of Midlothian to do.

“They’ve been around for a long time and I’m sure they’ll be around for a long time to come.”