Scotland’s fixture list has been thrown into fresh doubt after two Portuguese referees due to take charge of games this weekend have returned home.
Scottish top flight fixtures will be overseen by foreign officials this weekend after Scottish officials went on strike this week
The Scottish Football Association have scoured Europe to fill the void left by the strike and they were adamant all six SPL games would go ahead as planned this weekend.
However, Hibernian’s home clash against St Johnstone on Saturday and the Sunday contest between Motherwell and Hearts have now been thrown into major doubt.
The Portuguese FA confirmed two referees had set off this morning for Scotland, but they are now understood to have returned home soon after arriving.
Hibernian have yet to confirm if their clash with St Johnstone will go ahead, but Motherwell insist they have been given assurances that their game against Hearts on Sunday will go ahead as planned.
Plight
The SFA are thought to have a contingency plan in place to take over from the Portuguese officials to ensure the Hibs and Motherwell games go ahead as planned.
A Motherwell spokesman said: “Motherwell Football Club can confirm that Portuguese officials scheduled to take charge of our game on Sunday have gone home to Portugal.
“The club have been given assurances by the SFA that the game will still go ahead.
“They are working furiously to ensure that no game will come under threat.
“The club have every sympathy with the difficult plight they are going through and we are grateful for the work being done to ensure our game will go ahead.
“[Well manager] Craig Brown and the players will be in training for the game tomorrow and preparing for the match as normal.”
