Hearts fined after Romanov's attack on referees

LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) Hearts were fined 18,780 dollar by the Scottish FA today after majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov criticised the country's referees.

The Scottish Premier League club were also warned about their future conduct after being found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute by carrying the comments on their Web site.

Romanov was critical of the conduct of match officials during last year's Scottish Cup campaign that ended in a triumph on penalties over Gretna in the final in May.

An individual disrepute charge against Romanov was deferred because the Lithuanian was unable to attend yesterday's meeting with the SFA.

Romanov also faces a UEFA inquiry after criticising Russian referee Iouri Baskakov following his handling of the 3-0 defeat by AEK Athens in the third qualifying round of the Champions League in August when Hearts had two players sent off.

Reuters AY DB2011