Ian Mallon: Report calls for cut to funds if NGBs fail to curb abuse of referees or players
TIME FOR CHANGE: National Governing Bodies across all sports have been delivered a seismic blow by a Dáil report into abuse of referees, officials, and players. ©INPHO/James Crombie
NGBs will no longer be allowed “turn a blind eye” to instances of abuse, and should comply to a system where their performance in handling discipline is measured by Sport Ireland and, where necessary, financial sanctions are imposed against organisations that offend.
The report by the Joint Committee of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Media, and Sport has recommended a withdrawal of State funding for organisations who continue to mismanage discipline and it calls on the Department of Sport to approve oversight of the process by Sport Ireland. The committee said rather than allowing organisations like the FAI and GAA off the hook by handing over responsibility to a recommended ombudsman, NGBs will now face strict key performance indicators to insure they are managing the issue effectively.
One committee member told the that organisations “can cry all they want if they don’t adhere and if funding is withdrawn”.
The launch of the committee’s report into the ‘Elimination of Any and All Abuse Directed towards Referees and Officials and Players in Sport’ was overshadowed by the scenes which ensued at last Sunday’s All-Ireland quarter-final at Croke Park.
While the committee said it had faith in the GAA’s disciplinary process through the Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) to deal with the fallout of the Armagh-Galway fracas, it urged swift sanctions against the perpetrators of the violence.
The report, which recommends 11 measures, has been produced largely on the back of incidents of abuse against referees in soccer following the suspension last year of the Dublin District Schoolboy League after incidences of abuse against referees.
Imelda Munster TD, one of those who co-produced the joint committee report, said money was the over-riding penalty which would make sports bodies and local sports organisations face up to their responsibility. “If the funding is linked, then that is the biggest deterrent ever that we can think of,” she said.
“If there is bullying or discrimination, funding would then be put at risk and it would be up to them (the NGB) to prove that that wasn’t happening, which would be difficult enough if you had players coming out and saying: ‘No, this is actually what’s happening and they’re turning a blind eye.”
Sport Ireland, which previously declared it doesn’t interfere with general running of autonomous sports organisations, would now have overall oversight of discipline and measures to curb abuse, if the policies are adopted by Government.
Munster added: “The buck will stop with local sports bodies and groups (NGBs) themselves. If there are other things that tie in with that or come on stream that we think (are) not working as effectively as it should be, it can be re-examined.”
She added that no longer will sports bodies be able to “fob off” government due to the direct link with funding.
“Funding and money is the best way to make people adhere to the rules and if you didn’t have that link to funding, you’d be fobbed off and you’d get nowhere basically.”
“But the risk of losing funding, if they don’t adhere to the national code of conduct they can cry all they want, and if they don’t (obey the code) there is no point of crying over spilt milk, it’s gone.”
It is now up to the department to adopt the recommendations by the Joint-Committee which some politicians at yesterday’s launch say should be in place by early 2023.
Asked for the committee’s view of Sunday’s violence at the full-time (of normal time) whistle between Armagh and Galway, Alan Dillon TD said “they were certainly ugly scenes”.
He added: “Sanctions need to be enforced and perpetrators who certainly brought the game into disrepute will be dealt with by the CCCC and the governing body (GAA).
“But certainly it needs to be put into context in terms of both teams were entering into periods of extra time: Do we see this happening across the country? Occasionally.
“What we need to see here is swift action.”
Deputy Dillon also questioned the various appeals avenues open to players found guilty of abuse as ongoing “food for thought” for referees and officials about current disciplinary processes. When asked if separate exits from the field for rival teams at Croke Park was an answer in curbing such violence, Dillon added: “I don’t think so. I think it’s too simplistic and it goes across all organisations — this could happen in rugby and soccer etc and I think changing such a scenario is a swift action, but in the spirit of what happened on Sunday when you had both teams going into a period of extra time.”
Deputy Dillon added that the issue of non-playing members of the wider squad being allowed enter the field of play is an issue which must be addressed, as happened on Sunday, when one of those appeared to gouge Damien Comer of Galway.The next steps in the process of improving discipline in Irish sport will come with how enthusiastically the Department of Sport accepts the recommendations.
There was no stated public reaction yesterday to the report’s publication from the minister of sport Jack Chambers, Sport Ireland, the Federation of Irish Sport — which represents all governing bodies, or from the FAI, GAA or IRFU.
