Craig Thomson, the 20-year-old defender for Heart of Midlothian football club who was convicted last month of sexual misconduct on the internet, will not be playing again for the Scottish Premier League.
According to the announcement on Hearts website, Thomson’s suspension on June 28th will be permanent. This decision is an about-face from the club’s original statement of support for the offender, reportedly following a meeting between owner Vladimir Romanov and Thomson’s family.
When the scandal first reached the media in June, Thomson’s behavior was put down to “outside influences” and underplayed by club spokespersons as a sort of youthful indiscretion. However after the young man pleaded guilty to charges of “lewd, libidinous and indecent” contact with two underage girls in internet chat rooms, both the public and the team’s sponsors raised an outraged protest.
The outcry was enough to cause Romanov to retract or at least modify his former tirade against those he claimed were conspiring against the club. Former Hearts player Alan McLaren was quoted as saying he hoped Thomson would never play for the club again, and one major sponsor, MacB Water, has withdrawn its support, with others likely to follow suit.