President plays down Vlad threat

Published on Friday 11 March 2011 15:42

THE Lithuanian Football Federation expects Vladimir Romanov to continue funding the sport in the Baltic state despite the Hearts owner today threatening to withdraw his financial support.

With the Lithuanian A Lyga season having just got underway, Romanov has accused the national association of running the league like a "betting competition" and said he would be funding "illegal crime" by continuing his involvement.

FBK Kaunas, who like Hearts are funded by Romanov's Ukio Bankas Investment Group, lost 3-0 to Zalgiris Vilnius in their opening league match at the weekend. Romanov believes corruption to be rife within Lithuanian football but that claim was rejected today by Liutauras Varanavicius, president of the Lithuanian Football Federation.

Varanavicius predicted that UBIG would continue to fund Kaunas and youth development in the country as Romanov's time is now heavily occupied with basketball commitments.

"He has not funded Lithuanian football for the last two years so I don't know what he is pulling out of. This announcement is very strange," Varanavicius told the Evening News. "There was not a single scandal in Lithuanian football in the last two years while his club (Kaunas) was not participating so it's very strange to hear messages like this.

"His club is still playing, he has kids here in Lithuania in quite good (football) schools so I don't know what this announcement means. I can't judge his involvement in Scottish football. I know he is heavily involved in basketball in Lithuania. He is really seriously involved in every-day decisions in basketball and I think that is what is occupying him now. "We haven't heard that the bank is withdrawing funding. In reality Romanov has not been involved in Lithuanian football for the last two years. Those football schools survived so I don't see any change from this announcement. I think it was more a political announcement, just trying to impress before the new season.

"He is ready to pull out of the league but he liked it before when three clubs belonged to him in the top division. He is very angry when it is not allowed any more.

"Officially, on the Kaunas balance sheets, we still see the funding from the bank group, and the bank still belongs to Romanov. We don't understand this message. He says Scottish football is run by Scottish football mafia, so betting mafia is very similar.

Romanov said: "Enough is enough. The Lithuanian FA won't change. They have turned the league into a betting competition, not a football one.

For me to finance football in Lithuania, under the direction of the current federation, is the same as me funding illegal crime so I'm not going to do it."

Romanov will meet with Hearts manager Jim Jefferies in Lithuania later this week to finalise plans for this summer. Jefferies will look to ascertain who will stay and who will leave, plus which new signings are being targeted.