Friday feeling not for Scotland

Scotland will be disadvantaged by Fifa's decision to make Friday nights available for international fixtures, according to Gordon Smith.

With police against sanctioning matches at such a time, the Scottish FA chief executive thinks it will hamper preparation time between games.

The move comes with Fifa switching midweek ties from Wednesday to Tuesday.

"It leaves us playing Saturday then Tuesday, while our opponents might have an extra day to recover," said Smith.

Fifa's executive committee met in Rio de Janeiro in September to ratify the changes for international double-headers.

And the new calendar will be in place for September 2010, when qualifying for Euro 2012 begins.

"Last year, the vote in favour of keeping it Wednesday - Saturday was something like 88%," Smith explained to BBC Scotland.

"I think it's down to pressure from clubs, who are unhappy with players returning late or exhausted from Wednesday games."

Football Associations will be able to choose the weekend date that suits them best but Smith reckons that option will not be open to Scotland.

"I would imagine Saturday internationals will continue for Scotland," he added. "In most cases, that would suit us better.

"The police are not keen on Friday night matches, so we would have to talk to them about the possibility.

"We have to take the fans into account as well. A lot travel to Glasgow and would probably prefer us not to play on a Friday.

"Of course, the other side is that if we're playing away from home on a Friday then we will get that extra bit of leeway."

Scottish police forces have consistently resisted the idea of Friday fixtures.

And Assistant Chief Constable John Neilson, of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, told BBC Scotland: "We would certainly oppose matches being played on a Friday night because of the resource implications for the force.

"Our experience is that any football match, domestic or international, requires a level of resources that would have a negative impact on our wider policing role in communities at our busiest time."

Tartan Army spokesman Hamish Husband is also strongly in favour of keeping home matches on a Saturday.

"International football belongs on a Saturday," he told BBC Scotland.

"We have a great support from the Highlands and islands and Borders; watching Scotland has become a 24-hour marathon with the whole social day of a Saturday, culminating in the important 90 minutes at Hampden."

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