HEARTS' chief executive Chris Robinson has been nominated by his premier division colleagues to become president of the Scottish League at the annual meeting tomorrow. He has also been nominated for vice president. However, Mr Robinson will not succeed in either bid. In fact, he and his top-10 partners will be retiring to form their own Premier League, ensuring that he is ineligible for the posts.
It so happens the Hearts leader will not even be there - he is on holiday. Current president Doug Smith, of Dundee, will have to stand down as his team made it into the higher echelons.
There is more confusion. Nominations to be premier representatives on the committee, Bill Costley of Kilmarnock, Ian Donald of Aberdeen, Eric Riley of Celtic, and Roy Woodrow of Dunfermline, will also fall. All of these proposed candidates were suggested before it became absolutely clear that the premier clubs would succeed in their bid to break clear and do their own thing but it might have been considered prudent to withdraw their names before the agm began.
At any rate, they will no doubt be withdrawn in time to clear the way for a legitimate candidate, Jim Oliver of Partick Thistle, to take over as the first president of the new three-league set-up.
Meanwhile, it is unlikely that the proposed merger of Livingston and Clydebank will come in front of the meeting.
League secretary Peter Donald said: ''It would normally take 14 days for an extra-ordinary meeting to be called.''
That would give all clubs time to decide their views if permission for a merger was sought.
However, it also gives the League officials a headache as they are nearing completion of the fixture list for next season.
The top 10 met yesterday in Edinburgh to get an update on their position regarding sponsorship and TV negotiations as well as harden up plans for the new league, which is only a couple of months away from its opening date. There was no statement afterwards.
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