Hearts settle SFA dispute

Levein had continually refused to pay an SFA fine

Hearts and the Scottish FA have settled out of court the long-running dispute over Craig Levein's touchline ban.

The head coach has apologised for remarks made about referee Dougie McDonald after a game in May.

And the SFA has "clarified protocols" - details of which are not being made public - that Levein said had not been followed at the match.

Hearts have paid Levein's original fine of £1,000 instead of an accumulated amount for non-payment.

Judge Lord MacFadyen, passing judgement last autumn, said that the SFA rule book did not make it clear that the it had the power to increase fines.

Levein, who did not wish to comment on the settlement, persistently refused to pay the fine for his comments about McDonald after the Scottish Premier League defeat away to Kilmarnock.

Craig Levein has apologised to the Scottish FA SFA spokesman

But an SFA spokesman said: "The disciplinary dispute between the Scottish FA and Craig Levein has been resolved amicably through the intervention of Heart of Midlothian FC paying the original fine of £1,000 imposed on Craig Levein.

"Craig Levein has apologised to the Scottish FA for making inappropriate comments to the press about the match referee.

"The Scottish FA has accepted that these comments were sparked as a result of Mr Levein's belief that certain protocols at the match had not been properly followed.

"These protocols have now been clarified."

Hearts midfielder Phil Stamp had also refused to pay a fine until the club stepped in to advise him he should make the payment.

Levein wins court fight

Levein had been angered by the match official, claiming that he lost count of the number of mistakes he had made "after the 97th".

The SFA twice doubled the fine before, eventually, making his punishment a four-month touchline ban.

But, in September, Levein won a suspension of the ban at the Court of Session in Edinburgh with his lawyer Neil Davidson QC arguing that the SFA had behaved "unlawfully" by first increasing his fine and then changing it to a touchline ban.

Levein's case was due to be heard in court this week before the SFA reached agreement with Hearts.

The SFA had feared a messy test case that could have seen managers and players challenge bans and fines and demand more free speech to be able to criticise referees and football authorities.