Plans are underway to bring in foreign referees to Scottish football from next season.
According to a report by the award-winning Keith Jackson in the Daily Record Celtic are driving the move following a story meeting between the SFA and clubs on Monday.
Chief Executive Ian Maxwell, Compliance Officer Clare Whyte and referee chief John Fleming were in attendance as the various refereeing issues were discussed.
On January 4 Celtic requested that John Beaton’s match report or an explanation from the December 29 Glasgow derby was published. During that match Scott Brown, Ryan Christie and Tony Ralston also suffered varying degrees of violence from Alfredo Morelos which went unpunished by Beaton with the Compliance Officer refusing to take retrospective action. So far nothing has emerged to explain Beaton’s actions and the failure of the Compliance Officer to take retrospective action.
According to today’s Record report:
Revolutionary plans to draft in foreign referees to Scotland’s top flight for the start of next season are to be tabled on the back of a stormy secret summit between the SFA and the country’s furious top flight clubs.
Record Sport can reveal the governing body have agreed to consider a historic overhaul of their own disciplinary rule book after holding showdown talks with all 12 of the country’s Premiership clubs at Hampden on Monday.
And, at the end of what has been described as heated discussions, chief executive Ian Maxwell, compliance officer Clare Whyte and refs’ chief John Fleming, the clubs were given a mandate to draw up a dossier of demands they want rushed through and rubber-stamped before the start of the next campaign.
That is set to include a call to hire in officials from outwith Scotland’s borders – a motion which is being driven by champions Celtic but which is believed to be garnering support of others.
A working group made up of a number of top flight clubs will now be set-up with a view to urgently addressing the current standard of refereeing as well as the controversial judicial review process which has caused widespread unrest since Whyte’s appointment earlier this season.
The report concluded with:
Record Sport understands Celtic are keen to play a major role in drawing up these recommendations and that they are behind a proposal to recruit officials from other countries, including England, Wales and Ireland.
The source of the report will obviously raise suspicions among Celtic supporters although the introduction of new top flight referees would be very welcome.
An audit of Fleming’s department and the domination of the Lanarkshire Referee Association would be of value with the LRA providing four of the seven Scottish referees on the FIFA list. At the last Glasgow derby three of the four match officials came from Lanarkshire.
There must be decent referees throughout the country but unless they move in certain circles or socialise in and around Bellshill and Wishaw it seems that they are unlikely to progress in line with their ability.
