replacement, as a "scab". The SFA chief executive Stewart Regan denied the replacements were scabs, stating "[the Scottish referees] are not a union. They are an association. They operate for the good of Scottish football, they are not employed by the SFA. They get a match fee. No-one is breaking union rules." Regan stated all replacement officials were all experienced referees at the highest level and had been approved by the SFA's Referee Committee, explaining that they were all either "Fifa listed or Grade One officials in their own countries." Replacement officials In order to ensure fixtures would go ahead, the SFA approached "in excess" of 25 nations within UEFA for replacement officials. After being refused help by the associations in Netherlands, Iceland and Norway, and also having believed to have been declined help by those in Belgium, Estonia, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Sweden and Wales, by 25 November, the SFA stated it had secured officials for 11 of the 20 fixtures originally scheduled for the affected weekend. The 44 officials being drafted in to allow the 11 games to go ahead were believed to be from Malta, Israel, Poland, Portugal and Luxembourg, at a cost of around £40,000. According to The Daily Telegraph, the English Premier League had insufficient numbers of free officials to be able to help. The 11 fixtures that were to go ahead as scheduled using replacement officials, comprised the full Scottish Premier League programme (4 games on Saturday, 2 on Sunday), three Saturday Scottish Cup third round replays, the Sunday 2010 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, and one First Division game (drawn by lots). The nine games which would not go ahead were the remaining First Division fixtures (3 games), and all the games in the Second Division (2 games), and Third Division (4 games), all scheduled for the Saturday. In light of the free choice stance of the SRFA at the strike meeting on the involvement of Category Three Scottish referees, three of them were lined up to act as the fourth officials in three SPL games alongside the foreign officials. On 26 November, the Polish FA reversed their decision to send three sets of officials, stating they were now required for games in Poland, followed by the Portuguese FA, who had sent teams of officials to cover the two Sunday SPL games, only to board a return flight as soon as they