A Scottish football referees' strike has taken another twist with Portuguese officials joining their Polish counterparts in deciding against taking control of games this weekend.
In the face of the unprecedented strike, called by referees to protest what they see as undeserved and over-the-top criticism of their performances by players and managers, the Scottish Football Association turned to foreign officials to save the league programme.
Despite the recent pull-outs, the SFA maintained that all the weekend's six Scottish Premier League matches would go ahead as scheduled.
The Polish Football Federation had indicated that they were planning on sending match officials, with Israel also confirmed and countries such as Portugal and Malta also reportedly co-operating with the SFA.
However, as top-level refs in Scotland refused to back down on their plans to strike, the Poles claimed to have other commitments.
