George Peat last night brokered a peace deal between John Hughes and Donald McVicar he hopes will prevent Scottish football descending into anarchy.

George Peat last night brokered a peace deal between John Hughes and Donald McVicar he hopes will prevent Scottish football descending into anarchy.

The president of the Scottish Football Association convened a clear-the-air meeting between the Falkirk manager and the head of refereeing development at Hampden Park last night to bring an end to an increasingly-spiteful public spat.

Hughes was accompanied by the Falkirk chairman, Campbell Christie, and last night Peat described the talks as "positive and productive". Hughes has been embroiled in a long-running feud with the SFA, which resulted in a six-match touchline ban. His mood was exacerbated during Saturday's 3-0 defeat to Celtic, when he was wrongly informed by the match referee, Iain Brines, that he had broken the rules by delivering a team talk.

Hughes threatened a formal complaint against Brines, which McVicar described as mischief-making, and the manager subsequently rounded on McVicar and Hugh Dallas, the refereeing development officer.

"The way it was heading, we would have ended up in chaos - or anarchy - if something wasn't done," Peat said. "It was not doing anybody any good, so I decided to get involved. I didn't want the meeting to be about fines or disciplinary action; I wanted to get everyone round the table and discuss it like adults because it was damaging for everyone concerned. It was becoming petty and tit-for-tat and I feel it was time to intervene."

With the priority issue resolved, Peat will now attempt to tackle the litter of refereeing incompetence, managerial bickering and media frenzy. In an exclusive interview with The Herald, he revealed proposals he hopes will repair the damage caused by on-field mistakes and off-field recriminations.

Peat will recommend scrapping the compulsory retirement age of 47 for referees for domestic competition, as a response to the dwindling standard of officiating since the enforced retirement of some of Scotland's most experienced referees, including Dallas, Kenny Clark and Willie Young.

And on the day George Burley announced his Scotland squad to face Macedonia and Iceland in the opening matches of the World Cup qualifying campaign, Peat denied accusations of penny-pinching after banning charter flights for all Under-21 European Championship qualification travel.

After resolving the breakdown in relationship between Hughes and McVicar, Peat admits the recent gathering of SPL coaches and referees has already been undermined by high-profile refereeing errors. Stephen McManus scored Celtic's opening goal against Falkirk with his arm, while DaMarcus Beasley's 90th-minute goal' for Rangers against Aberdeen at Pittodrie was wrongly flagged for offside by the assistant referee, Billy Baxter.

"The meeting between managers and referees has clearly not been 100% successful," said Peat. "There are still one or two smouldering issues and we have to try and address them because the whole thing is becoming embarrassing.

"Referees are human. We all know they have made mistakes, but it should be remembered that managers and players make them as well and sometimes they can affect a result."

Peat will push ahead with his plan to increase the retirement age for referees. At present, FIFA and UEFA have set an age limit of 45 for international referees. Category one referees can continue taking charge of Premier League games until 47 under SFA rules but Peat is keen to push the boundaries even further to prevent a repeat of losing Dallas and Clark in their primes.

"Personally, I am against compulsory retirement at 47," said Peat. "If you are still fit and competent, you should be encouraged to continue. I know FIFA and UEFA have their own rules, but I think we should look at allowing referees to continue beyond that age for domestic purposes."

This weekend, Dougie McDonald finds himself in the unenviable position of taking control of the first Old Firm game of the season, at Celtic Park, amid a backdrop of banner headlines revelling in Refsgate'. Peat is confident the Glasgow derby can prove a watershed as referees come under intolerable pressure.

"I cannot remember the last major controversy during an Old Firm game since Hugh Dallas was struck on the head by a coin," said Peat. "In these pressure situations, the referees invariably rise to the challenge. In these games, the teams also know the consequences of their behaviour.

"Managers want freedom of speech and the media want to have referees publicly accountable, too, but if we don't draw a line somewhere, we have the nonsense that has filled the papers all week in every newspaper all the time, with the games as afterthoughts."

Peat also hopes to draw a line under the debate about Scotland's participation in any Great Britain Olympic football team come 2012. Gordon Brown, the prime minister, is intent on including all four home nations - who contentiously make up half of the International Football Association Board - provided he can receive assurances from Sepp Blatter, the FIFA president, that their autonomous memberships will be preserved.

"Sepp Blatter does not make the decision, the executive makes the decision," said Peat.

"When you have a principle, you have to stick to it, and we are not in favour of a British football team. The IFAB agreement goes back to 1946, when the British associations saved FIFA from bankruptcy.

"In any case, what use is an under-23 tournament when the domestic season is already underway? And why is football the only Olympic sport with an age restriction?"

Peat also made a stout defence of the SFA's policy not to book charter flights for the under-21 squad's European Championship qualification. Jimmy Calderwood, the Aberdeen manager, criticised the plan after the late return from Lithuania. The squad face a 12-hour trip for a potentially vital qualifier against Denmark in Aalborg next month, which will include stops at London and Copenhagen.

"It will cost us £15,000 to take the under-21s to Denmark, including flights and accommodation and it costs £40,000 to charter a plane," Peat explained. "It is not a case of skinflint SFA, but something every association has complained about since the under-21 qualification and senior qualification programmes split and became stand-alone. We used to have a charter that accommodated both squads.

"Everybody I have spoken to from other associations agrees with me and I have taken it up with David Taylor general secretary of UEFA to see why we cannot revert back."