The Football League is to hold an internal inquiry into how match officials are selected after it was found to have unlawfully discriminated against an Asian referee.
An industrial tribunal in Birmingham upheld a claim by Gurnham Singh against the Football League. He was dropped from its referees list in May 1999 after being told there had been a marked deterioration in his performance. Compensation will be decided at a further hearing over the next few months.
Also upheld were claims against Ken Ridden, the Football Association's former director of refereeing; Jim Ashworth, the League's refereeing officer and the National Review Board which oversees the promotion and demotion of match officials.
Singh, 47, an accountant from Wolverhampton, was one of a handful of black or Asian officials to have made it to the upper echelons of refereeing by the mid-1990s.
The tribunal had heard that Singh faced racial discrimination, despite performing well on the pitch.
Alan Seville, a former regional referees' co-ordinator who was responsible for assessing officials, had told the tribunal it was clear that Singh was being unfairly treated.
Singh had told the tribunal that he accepted he would face racism from the terraces, but expected fair treatment from the authorities.
David Burns, the Football League's chief executive, said: "I acknowledge this ruling and accept that there was a lack of objectivity by the Football League in appointing referees in the mid-1990s."
