The fact that referee Laurent Duhamel has been banned from officiating at top-flight games in France does not bother Scotland manager George Burley after hearing the Frenchman will be in charge of the World Cup qualifier against Holland at the Amsterdam ArenA on March 28. Duhamel hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons recently after being told to take a break from football by his own association before returning at lower league level after failing to send off two Paris St Germain players, who will now be punished retrospectively. SFA chief executive Gordon Smith is considering asking FIFA to appoint a different referee for the Group 9 game but Burley has qualms about Duhamel being in charge.
He said: "The referee position will look after itself. FIFA will decide who will be the referee and we can't influence it. I'm sure whoever is in charge will perform to the best of his ability. We are certainly not worrying about it. Personally, I don't know him. I'm sure he is a top-class referee and we are just looking forward to the game. I'm sure FIFA and the refereeing committee, whoever selects the referees, will take everything into consideration and choose the right one from there."
