Hearts must be left alone to deal with the Craig Thomson affair, Scottish Premier League chief executive Neil Doncaster has said.
Speaking at Fir Park yesterday as the SPL announced a new sponsorship deal with Mitre, Doncaster insisted Hearts alone can decide Thomson's future following the player's conviction for "lewd, libidinous and indecent behaviour".
Doncaster told BBC Scotland: "It would be a worrying sign if a league got involved with any decision on any player. Clubs have to take their own decisions."
He added: "It's very important that as a league we recognise what is within our jurisdiction and what isn't.
"When it's decisions on individual players that has to be something that's dealt with by clubs and clubs alone."
Thomson earlier this month pleaded guilty, was fined and placed on the sex offenders register in relation to his inappropriate conduct towards two under-age girls over the internet.
On Friday, Hearts announced that they planned to retain the services of Thomson, but on Tuesday they suspended the full-back and his future is now uncertain.
Further talks are understood to have taken place between Thomson and the club on Wednesday, but whether any decision has been made over the full-back's future is unknown.
Source: PA
