Scottish games to go ahead despite referee strike

All Scottish Premier League matches scheduled for this weekend will go ahead despite a planned strike by leading Scottish referees after the Scottish Football Association (SFA) reached agreement with “several European national associations”, the governing body said on Thursday.

“The Scottish FA can confirm agreement has been reached with several European National Associations to ensure matches in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League and the Alba Cup final will be covered this weekend,” the SFA statement said.

It added: “Negotiations are continuing with other national associations to help ensure that some, if not all, matches in the Scottish Football League go ahead as normal.

“Clubs will be informed by 3pm today (1500GMT Thursday) whether their matches will go ahead or not in light of the Scottish Category One referees electing to persist with their withdrawal of labour.”

Scotland’s top or category one referees have chosen to strike in protest at what they say is the “intolerable pressure” placed on their personal and professional lives as a result of the fall-out from some of their recent on-field decisions.

A statement issued earlier Thursday by the referees said: “As indicated earlier this week, at Sunday’s scheduled SFA (Scottish Football Association) monthly meeting of category one officials it was decided unanimously to withdraw availability for appointment this weekend November 27-28.

“The meeting concluded that the incessant and adverse nature of recent comments on referees had placed intolerable pressures on personal and professional lives and that statements questioning honesty and integrity aimed across refereeing in general had led to an unprecedented level of abuse and genuine concerns for safety and for the ability to carry out normal family and business commitments.

“Last (Wednesday) night, all category one referees ratified their original decision.”

The statement added the decision was not taken lightly and would “hopefully put an end to the more extreme attacks on referees”.

However, the referees added: “After this weekend, the referees will return to the field and will continue dialogue with the governing body to develop well-thought through and meaningful measures in an environment of mutual respect.”

The season in Scotland so far has witnessed several high-profile refereeing controversies, notably involving Dougie McDonald’s handling of Celtic’s 2-1 win over Dundee United last month — during which he awarded Celtic what looked like a deserved penalty before overturning the decision after consulting a linesman.

McDonald was warned by the SFA referees’ committee over his failure to give an accurate report of the circumstances surrounding his rescinding of the Celtic penalty.

Referee Willie Collum meanwhile received threatening phone calls after awarding Rangers a dubious penalty during their 3-1 victory at Celtic Park.

Hoops chairman John Reid said last Thursday that McDonald should quit or be removed by the SFA after he admitted misleading Celtic manager Neil Lennon over that decision.

The SFA tried to avert a walkout by offering to ban all club officials from commenting on referees but, despite talks on Wednesday, this was not enough to prevent the strike going ahead.