Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Reports: NFL, referees closing in on new deal

Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy addresses reporters' questions about a controversial touchdown call on Monday Night Football during a press conference in Green Bay, Wis., on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/The Green Bay Press-Gazette, Lukas Keapproth) NO SALES

Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy addresses reporters' questions about a controversial touchdown call on Monday Night Football during a press conference in Green Bay, Wis., on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/The Green Bay Press-Gazette, Lukas Keapproth) NO SALES

Green Bay Packers fan Mike LePak holds a sign in front of Lambeau Field along Lombardi Avenue, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012, in Green Bay, Wis., in protest of a controversial call in the Packers 14-12 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Monday night in Seattle. Just when it seemed that NFL coaches, players and fans couldn't get any angrier, along came a fiasco that trumped any of the complaints from the weekend. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)

Two days after a controversial call cost the Green Bay Packers a win, the NFL and the referees' union are reportedly nearing an end to a lockout that put replacement officials on the field since the start of the season.

According to several reports, the NFL and the union are close to a new deal that would allow the league's regular officials to return to work, possibly as early as this weekend.

ESPN reported Wednesday that "an agreement in principle is at hand," and The New York Times reported that the sides "''were closing in" on a way to end the impasse. ESPN cited unidentified sources from both sides; the Times cited a person briefed on the negotiations.

A person familiar with the situation tells The Associated Press that the NFL and its locked-out officials were meeting Wednesday. The sides met for about 14 hours starting Tuesday into early Wednesday. They broke for a few hours before reconvening in an attempt to resolve the dispute and end the firestorm over the use of replacement refs.

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AP Sports Writer Richard Rosenblatt in New York contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-09-26-Replacement%20Furor/id-7fc7735388c941f49ac1e2af0fe1bf4d

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