Referee may be censured over swearing allegation

It could be the football equivalent of man bites dog. The referee Stuart Dougal is under investigation by the Scottish Football Association for allegedly swearing at the Rangers midfielder Christian Nerlinger during Sunday's 1-0 victory at Partick Thistle.

The incident was caught on television and an SFA disciplinary official, Drew Herbertson, revealed: "Stuart has been invited to submit his comments. I can't speak of sanctions just now but the matter will be referred to the referees' committee."

Nerlinger insists he knew nothing about it and added that he did not think Dougal should be punished.

"Players and refs get caught up in the heat of the moment during games," he said. "I have never heard anything like this before and I sympathise with Stuart Dougal. I don't think anything should happen to him."

The former World Cup referee Clive Thomas said: "I'm not condoning swearing on the pitch from players or officials but, if the SFA are even thinking of taking him off the list, they should speak to other officials because they could end up with no referees."