Sex-case player set to learn his fate

SHAMED Hearts footballer Craig Thomson has appeared before a disciplinary board and his fate is expected to be revealed today.

Thomson earlier this month was fined 5,000 and placed on the sex offenders' register after admitting inappropriate conduct towards two under-age girls over the internet.

Last Friday, Hearts announced they planned to retain Thomson's services, but they suspended the full-back earlier this week and his future is now uncertain.

While the club's board is understood to have made its recommendation, it is for the club's owner, Vladimir Romanov, to make the final decision.

Yesterday, the chief executive of the Scottish Premier League, Neil Doncaster, said it must not become involved in the Thomson affair.

Speaking at Fir Park in Motherwell as the SPL announced a new sponsorship deal with Mitre, he insisted Hearts must be left alone to decide the player's future following his conviction for "lewd, libidinous and indecent behaviour".

The club has been under increasing pressure to sack Thomson, with one sponsor, MacB Water, withdrawing its support and the chief executive of the charity Children 1st insisting there should be no place for a sex offender in the team.