Romanov earlier this month declared his growing disillusionment with Scottish football and has now issued instructions to sell Hearts as well as his majority share holding in Lithuania's FK Kaunas and Partizan Minsk in Belarus.

The Russia-born Lithuanian businessman first invested in Hearts in 2004 but the club are around £30million in debt and in need of new investment, with their Tynecastle Stadium home previously labelled unfit for redevelopment, and Romanov is apparently unwilling to stump up the cash.

Romanov told Russian news agency RIA Novosti: "I want to leave football. I have given the order to find buyers for all my clubs.

"I want to buy a theatre and sell the clubs."

The news came on a day when Hearts announced 33 players had received their salaries and the remainder will be paid "as soon as practically possible" following a second consecutive month of overdue wages.

Senior squad members had to wait 19 days for last month's overdue wages, which were eventually paid on November 4 and the players should have received their November income yesterday.

A club spokesperson said on www.heartsfc.co.uk: "More than half of the Hearts squad has been paid and we will pay the remaining players as soon as practically possible."

The Edinburgh club admitted they were trying to "obtain funding" after settling a tax bill of more than £1million with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs on Tuesday.

Financial concerns are not the only issue at Hearts, with manager Paulo Sergio today hit with a five-match ban for misconduct by the Scottish Football Association.

The Hearts boss was sent to the stand in Hearts' ill-tempered 1-0 loss to Kilmarnock at Tynecastle on October 29.

And, following a second disciplinary appearance at Hampden in a fortnight, Sergio has been handed a touchline suspension, beginning with Saturday's match against Dundee United at Tannadice.

It is understood Sergio will not be appealing against the penalty and will therefore next be able to enter the dugout in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League fixture with Motherwell on Christmas Eve.

Sergio was found guilty of breaching the SFA rule that incorporates "continued use of offensive, abusing and/or insulting language and/or behaviour; calling a match official a cheat and/or calling a match official's integrity into question; failure to comply with a match official's requests; adoption of aggressive behaviour towards a match official".

Sergio remonstrated furiously with referee Alan Muir and was sent to the stand after 77 minutes of the SPL clash with Killie, which was settled by a controversial Dean Shiels penalty after Ian Black's first-half dismissal.

Muir pointed to the spot only after the intervention of his assistant, Stuart MacCaulay, following a foul by Hearts defender Marius Zaliukas on Paul Heffernan, while numerous other incidents appeared to anger Sergio throughout the match.

He will now watch matches with United, Inverness, St Johnstone, Celtic and Dunfermline from the stand.

The Portuguese received an SFA "censure" two weeks ago over two charges relating to comments made about match official Iain Brines before his side's SPL win over Dunfermline on October 15.

Hearts began a media blackout, issuing all communication through their official website, following the initial disciplinary proceedings relating to Brines.

The stance has been maintained and it is uncertain when Sergio or anyone from the club will next speak publicly.

Sergio later accepted he could not act in a similar fashion again.

"I am angry at myself for the way I reacted," he told Hearts TV. "I have learned my lesson. This is only the second time this has happened to me in my career.

"My focus is on the game against Dundee United and doing what is best for Hearts."