integrity. The referees also sought written assurances from the chairmen of all 42 senior clubs that they respected referees integrity. After a second meeting on Wednesday 24 November, at midnight the referees reaffirmed the strike would be going ahead, as the action was not intended to be a "bargaining chip" to produce "quick fixes or deals". The SFA had set a deadline of Thursday for talks to succeed and the strike to be called off, after which they would be forced to implement contingency plans of seeking foreign, replacement officials. Referee spokesman John McKendrick described how the strike was intended to affect root and branch change in Scottish football, and act as both a statement of intent and an opportunity for reflection, stating "The time for talking about practical steps to improve Scottish refereeing should start from Monday". He expressed doubt that had the strike not gone ahead, the same "desire for change" which had manifested in the SFA's announcements after the strike was called, would have occurred. Reaction According to BBC Scotland, Celtic welcomed the strike, on the basis that it would prompt a UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) investigation into refereeing standards. UEFA however quickly stated they would not be intervening in the dispute, describing it as a "purely domestic matter" for the SFA to resolve. According to The Daily Telegraph writing after the strike announcement, while "Celtic have remained at the centre of controversy", and excepting the statement from Hearts on 30 October, it stated that "other clubs and managers have refrained from any form of criticism [running up to the decision to strike] in a bid to ease the pressure". Denying that the recent disputes with Celtic were the sole factor behind the decision to strike, on the eve of the strike SFA chief executive Stewart Regan said "This is an issue across Scottish football as far as the refs are concerned. They mentioned incidents and individuals across the SPL and SFL". Motherwell manager Craig Brown stated the strike was a "radical course of action, a step too far", and complained that the action would unfairly affect his club with loss of broadcast rights revenues if their SPL match at home against Hearts was affected. Kilmarnock manager Mixu Paatelainen described the planned strike as "disappointing" but stated that "there has been too much talk of referees and I don't think that's healthy", claiming it could