The SFA have promoted Andrew Dallas onto the elite FIFA list of referees.
Lanarkshire referees are strongly represented on the seven strong group that also includes Willie Collum, Bobby Madden and John Beaton.
Dallas can now be selected for major European club and country matches despite never having refereed a single match involving Celtic.
Collum, Madden and the others on the FIFA list have all handled regular Celtic matches with Dallas admitting what a thrill it was to be on the list and highlighting the influence of his father, Hugh, who left the SFA after sending anti-catholic emails.
“It’s a dream come true,” he told the SFA website about his latest promotion. “To be one of the seven Scottish referees on the FIFA international list is the sort of thing that you dream about when you first start out.
“I’m very fortunate to work with good referees on a regular basis. Steven (McLean) was my referee coach and I train regularly with Willie (Collum). They’ve been fantastic in offering advice and encouragement and they’re always available for a chat about decisions and incidents from matches.”
Reflecting on the influence of his dad he added: “My dad has been invaluable for me, as it has allowed me first hand to see what experiences being a referee can provide.
“To have his opinion and advice available 24/7 has been incredible and if I can do half as well as him, I’ll be delighted.”
Dallas has survived a number of controversies in his career most notably a clash with Kenny Shiels when he was the fourth official at a Kilmarnock match.
After appearing before the SFA after being sent to the stand for an incident involving Dallas the Kilmarnock boss said: “I was totally exonerated, yet I had to sit in the stand for a whole game.
“I brought in evidence to disprove the fourth official, who fabricated stuff to try and incriminate me. I don’t like that, I’m not going to lie down to these people.
“The fabrication was outrageous – at least four different things that were said about me – but he wasn’t aware I had visual evidence on my laptop.”
Celtic’s match at Hamilton will be refereed by Stevie McLean with Bobby Madden in charge of Wednesday’s match at home to Motherwell.
