Kenny Clark has slammed the Professional Game Match Officials Limited for dropping Kevin Friend from the recent Stoke v Spurs fixture and warned the SFA not to introduce the same criteria in Scotland.
Friend lives in the Leicester area and has admitted to attending a number of matches at the King Power Stadium.
Spurs fans quickly highlighted the significance of having someone viewed as being a Leicester fan in charge of their match in the title run in with Friend replaced as referee for a match that Spurs won 4-0.
At the start of each season English referees are asked what they they support with Friend being a boyhood Bristol City fan before work took him to relocate in the Midlands.
That casual link with Leicester was enough to get Friend dropped for a Leicester match with Clark warning of the consequences of a similar move in Scotland.
Writing in the Scottish Sun the former referee said: “In my book it would be absolute madness if the SFA were ever influenced on appointments by virtue of who a referee supported.
“The case down south of Kevin Friend being removed from the Stoke City-Spurs game last Monday night because it emerged he’d attended Leicester City home games left me feeling bewildered and having total sympathy for him.
“The decision of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited body effectively called his integrity into question.
“For me it was the PGMOL basically saying they didn’t have faith in him to make honest decisions at the Britannia Stadium — that his Leicester background could influence his judgement in a game involving their title rivals Spurs.
“Really? I don’t think for a second Friend would have gone into that fixture with anything other than a completely professional mindset and approach.
Cutting to his real concern about the issue Clark added: “It simply cannot be repeated in Scottish football. It would lead to chaos.
“Down south officials are expected to declare who they support, while here the only concern is if an official has a direct link with a club, particularly a close relative.
“However, our referees are not asked who their so-called team is. Virtually every official has grown up supporting a club but I have never thought for a second that it has ever influenced any of our referees during a game.
“Over the years I’ve looked at officials handed Celtic-Rangers and Hibs-Hearts derbies, for example, and known they were previously supporters of one of the teams but I’ve never doubted their integrity with decision-making.
“It’s pretty common knowledge I like St Mirren. As it happened, though I never took charge of many of their games. There were still a few, however, and I can honestly say I handled those fixtures the same as I did any other game.
“If the SFA were to start deciding appointments on the basis of the PGMOL criteria then it would become virtually impossible to avoid some kind of perceived problem.
“Once we send out a signal that we’re not sure about the integrity of our officials then, I’m sorry, it’s the road to ruin.”
Clark was involved in many honest mistakes during his career, most notably in 1994 he missed a headbutt by Duncan Ferguson on Jock McStay that led to the Rangers (IL) forward serving a jail sentence!
Ferguson was on probation for two convictions, when Clark failed to take action for a head butt in front of 42,000 people the Procurator Fiscal stepped in with the Ibrox striker serving 44 days in Barlinnie for the assault.
Twelve years later, also at Ibrox and with the Paul le Guen reign teetering on the brink Clark missed Steven Smith chopping Neil Lennon in the penalty box in front of the Copland Road Stand. Celtic were leading 1-0 at the time but had to settle for a 1-1 draw.
