Gordon Smith has criticised Macedonia after Scotland's World Cup qualifier in Skopje was brought forward to a 3pm kick-off.

George Burley's first competitive game in charge will now take place in the afternoon heat on September 6.

Scotland now face a tricky double-header with Iceland to follow in Reykjavik four days later, and Smith is not happy with the situation.

The SFA chief executive said: "Macedonia were actually difficult before because they were going to withdraw from the fixture meeting if they didn't get their own way.

"The fixtures were already set with Macedonia being the first game at Hampden, when they said they were going to withdraw from the meeting unless they got their first game at home.

"They were very awkward at that moment and they did the same with Norway.

"They changed the fixture with Norway, much to their consternation, but the fact was if we didn't accept the fixtures as they were at that point, they were going back to Fifa and Fifa would draw them out of the hat.

"So we had seven matches that we thought were in the right order and we just had to take this one.

"The awkward thing about it is the temperature over there. It probably won't suit us to play at that time of the afternoon."

Smith has also reiterated his stance on a 2012 British Olympic team.

"It is discriminatory because it is an under-23 event," he said. "If you look at any other event in the Olympics, they are not limited.

"That's just one of many negative factors.

"Our autonomy and position within Fifa could be at risk, too. The fact is also that this is an important time for some clubs with European qualification."

Meanwhile, the SFA are closing in on a sponsorship deal for the Scottish Cup. "We have a value and it is about getting the right value," he said. "We have two or three companies but we won't move until we have saturated the market."