Hearts fined and deducted points by SPFL for fielding ineligible player
Hearts have been deducted two points and fined £10,000 by the Scottish Professional Football League for fielding an ineligible player in the Betfred Cup.
With owner Ann Budge in attendance at Hampden Park, an SPFL panel chose to dock two points and hand the Edinburgh club a hefty fine for using teenage substitute Andy Irving against Cove Rangers when he was not registered. Of the £10,000 fine, £8,000 is suspended until the end of season 2019/20.
Hearts admitted the breach of rules last week and will accept the punishment imposed on them. Their five-point tally in Group C of the Betfred Cup is now reduced to three, meaning they can still reach the tournament's knockout phase with two group games left.
They face Cowdenbeath at Tynecastle Park on Tuesday night before hosting Inverness Caledonian Thistle there on Sunday. Those two teams sit joint top of the section with six points each.