Swap referees to clean up football

ILL-TEMPER seems to be an increasing feature in Scottish football. The match at Inverness [against Dundee United] was marked by a melee more in keeping with a news report snippet from a volatile Latin American local derby match.

There was little evidence of congeniality in the Hibs v Hearts cup game, and Scott Brown was flown to Switzerland to better appeal a Fifa three-match ban, for an on-field offence against an opposing player, to no avail.

The cursing at referees by players requires only rudimentary lip-reading skills and knowledge of four plus profane words to witness. Isn’t it time that some sporting manners and civility were demanded. If boxers can belt the hell out of each other and still shake hands at the end, what’s to hinder footballers? Maybe a swap about between rugby and football referees every now and then might produce some change for the better.

Ian Johnstone, Peterhead