Scottish Football Association confirms Scottish Premier League matches will take place
The Scottish Football Association has confirmed that the Scottish Premier League fixture list for the weekend of 27-28 November will go ahead despite a referees' strike.
Category one officials have voted to withdraw labour for the weekend following criticism against them as well as over fears for their personal safety.
It was initially feared that all of the weekend's SPL and Scottish Football League games would be called off, but the SFA has been able to draft in referees from abroad to officiate the top-flight matches, as well as the Alba Challenge Cup final between
Queen of the South and Ross County on Sunday.
The news means that the televised matches between Dundee United and Rangers at Tannadice and Motherwell and Heart of Midlothian at Fir Park — both on Sunday — will take place as planned.
SFA chief executive Stewart Regan told reporters: “We were notified by the category one referees that, despite the best endeavours of both the SFA and the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League, that we were not able to have the action
withdrawn and it would go ahead this weekend as planned.
"That clearly required a period of activity this morning in trying to ensure that we have a contingency plan in place, as our primary concern is to make sure that the fixtures can be officiated and we're delighted to say that we've made substantial progress
in that regard.
"We've put together a priority list which has received board approval this morning. We have a number of contractual matters to address, and the televised matches — those in the [Scottish] Premier League have taken priority. We've also been able to cover
additional Premier League matches as well as the cup final on Sunday."
Regan added that he was hoping to source more referees in an effort to allow more SFL games to ahead in the First and Second Divisions.
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