No strike from Scottish referees

Dougal is hopeful of securing higher pay for referees

The threat of a strike from Scottish Premier League referees has been lifted after the league agreed to set up a review of their wage demands.

Referees had been offered £600 a match - a £25 increase - but are seeking a 39% raise to £800.

A working group will now benchmark the work of SPL referees with other European leagues.

A mid-September report is due and any resultant pay rise will be backdated to the start of the season.

Scottish Senior Referees' Association chairman Stuart Dougal confirmed that his organisation want a fee of £800 per game, with assistant referees receiving an increase to £400 and the figure for fourth officials rising to £200.

The SSFRA will now co-operate with a forthcoming review and they are optimistic comparisons with leagues on the continent will take their pay above the provisional figure.

"The SSFRA agreed the figure of £800/400/200 as the accepted fee structure for SPL games for the coming season.

"This allows the season to begin as scheduled on Saturday.

"We have further agreed to engage in a benchmarking process with appropriate European leagues.

"We are confident that we will not only secure but enhance the £800 figure we initially proposed."

Scottish FA chief executive Gordon Smith added: "I am delighted that both parties have agreed a way forward on this issue.

"The benchmarking exercise that will take place over the next six weeks will allow everyone to work together and the Scottish FA is more than happy to be a part of this process.

"Above all, I am glad that the SPL season will begin as planned on Saturday. Nobody wants to see our national game disrupted in any way."

Referees in Scotland do not get an annual retainer unlike their English Premier League counterparts who receive £33,000 plus £300 per match in fees.

And former Scottish referee Kenny Clark believes the pressures that come with job is the primary reason why officials should get a better deal.

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"There are not any referees who will suggest they should get paid anything like what the players get," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"This is about giving some acknowledgment to the pressures they are under, and their families are under when it comes to media scrutiny.

"We are being asked to be professional, even though were amateur, in the way we conduct ourselves and we just want an increase in fees. In Greece, Norway and Holland they're getting paid more."

Jim Traynor, host of BBC Radio Scotland's Your Call, also agreed that the row is not just all about money.

"They do believe they are worth more money because of the pressure they are under now but they want the authorities to understand they need to be protected from chairman and managers who question their honesty and integrity," he said.

"We are at the stage where referees are pilloried far too often now. It's unfair. When managers start saying openly that a referee has cheated, then we need to sit down and think again.

"The referees are attempting to flex some muscle because they feel, and have done for a number of seasons, that they are not given the proper support and backing from the Scottish Football Association and the people who run the SPL.

The new season kicks off this Saturday, with Rangers travelling to Falkirk in the opening game at 1230 BST.