Reasons for FIFA snubbing Scotland's top referees for…

Reasons for FIFA snubbing Scotland's top referees for the World Cup finals revealed

Drew Herbertson, the former SFA head of disciplinary and refereeing, has launched a robust defence of the standard of Scottish refereeing despite FIFA not selecting any match officials from this country to take part in the World Cup finals.

Referees and VAR officials like John Beaton, Andrew Dallas, Steven McLean and Don Robertson were heavily criticised by fans, players, managers and pundits last season as a result of their decisions in high-profile William Hill Premiership matches.

The abuse which they received – and Beaton required Police Scotland protection at his home last month after his address was posted online – prompted the Scottish Senior Football Referees’ Association to issue a thinly-veiled threat of strike action.

But when no Scot was chosen to officiate at the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States this summer – and FIFA will use 52 referees, 88 assistant referees and 30 video assistant referees at the finals in the coming weeks – it was seen by many as an indication of how poor their performances had been in the previous 10 months.

However, Herbertson, who worked for the SFA in a variety of different roles for 40 years, argued that several different factors were responsible for Scottish referees being overlooked for the international tournament.

“For me, it doesn’t say anything about the standards of Scottish refereeing at all,” he said. “It is more to do with the ultra-competitiveness of international refereeing. Not having a Scot in a seat at the top table doesn’t help either.

“It does help to have someone fighting your corner. Jack Mowat was on the FIFA referees’ committee in the 1970s and Tom Wharton replaced him in the early 1980s. Hugh Dallas was closely involved with the UEFA referees’ committee after he stopped refereeing in the 2000s. That does make a difference.

Referee Nick Walsh speaks to Celtic's Callum McGregor, centre, and Rangers' James Tavernier at Parkhead this season (Image: Andrew Milligan)

“The standard of refereeing in Scotland is still extremely high in my opinion, a lot higher than people say it is. Every year without fail people will say, ‘The standard of Scottish refereeing now is worse than it has ever been!’ That happens every year. What is that based on? A decision going against your team.

“The training and education of the referees now is far superior to anything that has gone before. There has been continuous progress on that front, in the coaching and development of referees, for almost 40 years now.

“What they receive is first class and for me they perform very well as a result of it. All of that said, the referees themselves still have to perform at a very high level, have to catch the eye, in Europe to get called up for European Championship and World Cup finals.”

But Herbertson, who has just written Scotland’s International Football Referees: 1872 to 2025, is optimistic that Nick Walsh will become the first Scottish official to be involved at the World Cup since Hugh Dallas in Japan and South Korea in 2002 at the next tournament in Morocco, Portugal and Spain in 2030.

“Nick got promoted into the elite category at UEFA level in mid-season and there are high hopes within the SFA that he will continue to impress,” he said. “He took charge of a few games in the Champions League last season and did well and if he keeps doing that then who knows what will happen.

“Nick was identified by the SFA as being a good talent very early on in his career. He has been in the system for 10 years and is still only 36 so he has a lot of years left. Hopefully he will keep on progressing and get to the next World Cup.”

Scotland’s International Football Referees: 1872 to 2025 by Drew Herbertson is available to buy now.

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