Source: FOOTYMAD
Self Sacrifice For The Sake Of The Game
Dougie McDonald sees his resignation as required to draw a line under the referee debate Dougie McDonald hopes the fact that he is no longer in the referee equasion will help the long-term improvement in the treatment of officials. McDonald has been under intense pressure in a sequence of events that led to Scotland's leading officials to carry out strike action. But McDonald has gone in an attempt to ensure his own position does not overshadow the wider issues surrounding Scotland's referees, who were at the weekend replaced by colleagues from Israel, Malta and Luxembourg.McDonald said: "My category one colleagues decided rightly to withdraw their services from matches this weekend in response to the outrageous way they have been treated by sections within Scottish football and, in my opinion, the lack of support they have received from the SFA general purposes committee in recent years. However, their united stand, and the position of strength they have established this weekend, has been clouded by one issue, namely the aftermath of the Dundee United v Celtic match on October 17. I apologised for my role in that and wanted my previously unblemished 29-year career to move on. Now is the time for all of Scottish football to move on."McDonald received an SFA warning over his false claim that he had been alerted to his penalty error by assistant Steven Craven, who quit the professional game a week later. The punishment was seen as too lenient by many but McDonald claims the most damaging clemency has been towards managers and players. He said: "It's also important to make clear that just as this issue is not about Dougie McDonald alone, nor is it about Celtic Football Club alone. I have read comments this week from Craig Brown, whom I admire hugely in the way he deals with referees, saying his club doesn't engage in questioning referees publicly. They maybe haven't under his reign, but the previous manager (Jim Gannon) did and I don't recall the club apologising or dealing with their employee. Since I became a class one referee, managers or players - and sometimes directors - at almost every club, at one time or another, have been guilty of such behaviour. The constant has been the unwillingness of the SFA general purposes committee to deal with it." Editor Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba net)Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba net)This is ScottishFitba Net
