Scottish football’s loose relationship with Financial Fair Play has been confirmed with Hearts revealing that mystery benefactors provided a exceptional £1m contribution.
This week UEFA announced increased auditing procedures to provide something of a level playing field and to prevent clubs going heavily into debt chasing unsustainable success.
That business model sent the old Rangers club into liquidation in 2012 with Hearts only just managing to avoid that fate a year later when supporters rallied together to produce a CVA that was accepted by creditors including Her Majesty.
Hearts chief Ann Budge stated: “We received an exceptional £1m donation towards player costs from our benefactors. This allowed us to enhance our playing budget for the year and consequently our staff costs increased considerably.”
With turnover of £12.1m the mystery benefactor made a major contribution to the sustainability of the club.
A proper FFP policy would ensure that such figures are explained.
While Hearts decide to keep secrets in their accounts the Scottish game is left wide open to speculation over money laundering or clubs being under pressure from outside sources.
