23 Nov 2010

Foreign refs may look after Scottish football matches

9:03 am on 23 November 2010

Scottish football could be refereed by foreign match officials this weekend under contingency plans being drawn up to beat a threatened referees' strike.

The country's leading referees voted unanimously yesterday to strike because of increasing levels of abuse and criticism from some clubs and individuals that they say has put their safety at risk.

Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan said in a statement today that he sympathised with the referees and understood their reasons but could not condone strike action.

Regan says measures were being put in place to ensure matches could go ahead.

BBC Scotland reported that the country's 14 second tier referees had agreed not to step in as replacements but a number of Welsh, Irish and English referees would be available.