Player to face hearing for kicking referee in chest as official banned

The Division One match in the North East Football League between Bay FC v Sporting BJD was abandoned earlier this month with five minutes remaining in normal time.

The FAI will conduct a disciplinary hearing into an incident that saw a Louth soccer referee apparently kicked in the chest by a player.

The Division One match in the North East Football League between Bay FC v Sporting BJD was abandoned earlier this month with five minutes remaining in normal time.

Shortly thereafter, a player ran across the pitch and appeared to assault the official, with a video of the incident being captured by a supporter.

In a statement on Wednesday morning, the NEFL confirmed that a committee had reviewed the reports of the game.

They have banned a member of the Sporting BJD management team for three games for their behaviour — but the player involved is now awaiting the outcome of an FAI disciplinary hearing.

NEFL Chairman John Gorman said: "Following this review, the NEFL committee have decided to hand the named individual from Sporting BJD, who was named on the management team sheet, an automatic ban, plus two matches as per FAI recommendations.

"In relation to the offence itself, where a player allegedly assaulted a match official, this matter is now with the FAI disciplinary unit as per rules when a match official is assaulted, and we will await the outcome of this hearing and respect in full the FAI disciplinary unit process.

"We, as a voluntary football body will endeavour to take all assaults against match officials, whether it be verbal or physical in a serious manner and will try to take in all accounts in these cases."

Mr Gorman noted that the NEFL had "never faced anything like this before" and urged that the NEFL community "learn as a group and get back to doing what we do best, playing football in a good spirit."

The referee in question has yet to return to refereeing.