Hearts management and players face 14-day quarantine when they return to Edinburgh

Daniel Stendel set to miss start of training after he arrives back from Germany

Daniel Stendel is due to have talks with Hearts owner Ann Budge over his future at the club. Picture: SNS

Hearts manager Daniel Stendel, assistant Jorg Sievers and two foreign players face 14 days in quarantine if they return to Edinburgh after this weekend.

The club’s management team will need to self-isolate under new coronavirus safety measures, as will Australian defender Ben Garuccio and French midfielder Loic Damour.

That would force them all to miss the start of pre-season training if Hearts begin sessions on 11 June as permitted by the Scottish 
Government.

New rules imposed by the UK government take effect on Monday and state that all international arrivals in the United Kingdom must enter two weeks of 
self-isolation.

Hearts are prepared for that possibility after Stendel and Sievers returned to their native Germany before lockdown, with Garuccio in Adelaide and Damour in France.

Other foreign players, such as injured Austrian midfielder Peter Haring, have remained in Scotland since football stopped back in March.

The club would ask other members of the coaching staff, such as Andy Kirk and Liam Fox, to take training if they have to start back without their management team.

Hearts’ restart date depends on which league they are playing in and when it is likely to kick off – both issues which have yet to be settled amid ongoing league reconstruction talks.

The futures of Stendel, Sievers and coach Dale Tonge are also uncertain given Stendel’s contract at Tynecastle Park is no longer valid following the club’s relegation to the 
Championship.

He only has an agreement to work in the Premiership, while Tonge’s deal expired at the end of the season. Sievers would be unlikely to continue in Scotland without Stendel, who brought him in from Hannover in January.

Stendel is due to hold talks with the Hearts owner Ann Budge about his future once it becomes clear whether league reconstruction is a genuine possibility or not.

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