Dougie McDonald, the referee at the center of this weekend’s strike by Scotland’s top officials, announced his retirement on Sunday.
McDonald has been under mounting pressure to resign since admitting he had misled Celtic manager Neil Lennon over his decision to rescind a penalty he gave to the Hoops against Dundee United in a Scottish Premier League (SPL) match last month.
“It is with regret that I have decided, with immediate effect, to retire from my role as a category one referee,” McDonald said in a statement.
“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 [Scottish Football Association] general purposes committee in recent years,” he said.
“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 17 October. I apologised for my role in that and wanted my previously unblemished 29-year career to move on,” he said
“Now is the time for all of Scottish football to move on,” McDonald said.
Celtic chairman John Reid, a former British Government minister, had called for McDonald to resign or be sacked by the SFA.
McDonald, warned by the SFA over inaccuracies in his post-match statements on the Dundee United-Celtic match, added: “It is also important to make clear that just as this issue is not about Dougie McDonald alone, nor is it about Celtic Football Club alone.”
“The truth is, 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,” he said. “The only difference being the degree and tenor of the criticism, and the inferences from it.”
“The constant has been the unwillingness of the SFA general purposes committee to deal with it,” he said. “I suggest they check the meaning of phrases such as ‘wasn’t impartial’ used by [former Celtic winger] Aiden McGeady and ‘conspires to’ used by [Dundee United manager] Peter Houston and consider whether we want those used in Scottish football.”
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