Graham Annesley has revealed the referees' union ended its dispute with the NRL by dropping the threat of legal action.
The war of words that threatened to railroad the NRL's return to action next week, came to an unexpected conclusion on Friday when arbitration between the two sides was called off.
Both sides agreed the pocket referee will be scrapped for the 2020 NRL season.
Annesley, a former high-ranked referee, stressed that for the benefit of the game, the union decided to stand down, and he applauded that decision.
"The thing I need to make absolutely clear is that it was the referees themselves that ultimately decided last night not to continue with the dispute," the NRL football boss told AAP.
"They didn't want to be the focus of attention over the course of this weekend in arbitration. "They didn't want to be the focus of attention leading into the start of the competition next week and they had the best interests of the game at heart when they made their decision to accept the single referee model for the remainder of this year."
A one-referee system will now be in place when the league resumes following a COVID-19 enforced hiatus.
22 full-time match officials will be employed throughout the season, with the one referee system to be evaluated ahead of 2021.
Annesley said the NRL was "not concerned" about their relationship with referees following the dispute.
