No help from Poles in Scottish refs´ strike

The row over the referees’ strike in Scottish football took another twist on Friday when Polish officials said they had decided against helping out at games this weekend.

The Polish Football Federation had indicated on Thursday that they were planning on sending match officials, with Israel also confirmed and countries such as Portugal and Malta also reportedly co-operating with the Scottish Football Association.

However, as top-level refs in Scotland refused to back down on their plans to strike on Saturday and Sunday, the Poles now claim to have other commitments.

In a statement on Scottish Television’s website, www.stv.tv, a spokesperson for the Polish FA confirmed: “We will not be sending our referees to Scotland tomorrow because they are needed for our domestic games.

“We did confirm to the SFA yesterday that we would be sending a team of 12 officials but that is no longer the case. Our domestic games take place today, Friday, tomorrow Saturday and Sunday.”

In the face of the unprecedented strike. called by referees to protest what they see as undeserved and over-the-top criticism of their performances by players and managers, the Scottish Football Association has turned to foreign officials to save the league programme.

All Premier League games have been allocated match officials with one SFL lower-division match receiving the services of a referee and assistant referees.

The Alba Cup Final and three Scottish Cup replays have also been allocated match officials.

It was not immediately clear what would be the consequences on these games of the Polish about-turn.

Motherwell manager Craig Brown, meanwhile told the Scottish referees to “grow up” and stop embarrassing the national game.

The former Scotland manager said he failed to understand why the country’s top flight referees had voted for strike action without airing their concerns with any other group.

“I think the referees association has embarrassed football in Scotland by taking this action because surely there another five agencies they should have dealt with before going on strike,” he said.

“They should speak to the managers’ union, Alex Smith, you will not get a more decent sensible guy.

“Speak to the players’ union if they have a problem with players. Speak to the Scottish Football League, the SPL and the SFA.

“Having had the five agencies round the table and still feeling aggrieved, then go on strike.

“If they have issues with the press, they should speak to the president of the press association.

“Why do this without sitting round the table in a mature, sensible manner?”