GAA moves to ‘defend and protect’ men in black

GROWING concern over what’s viewed as an unprecedented and unacceptable level of abuse of referees has forced the Management Committee to issue a code of ethics.

It's also directed at county officials who resort to public criticism, on the basis that they are operating double standards in relation to upholding the honour of referees at club level.

The policy, which reflects the views of Association President Sean Kelly, as well as the concerns of the Referees' Association and referees themselves, was agreed after a meeting of the Central Council at the weekend.

"It needed to be set out,'' said referees' spokesman Fr Seamus Gardiner.

"I'm glad they included county officers, because they are the people who are trying to get referees in their own counties. The berating of referees after games creates a bad image and can incite fans.''

Fr Gardiner said he was pleased that the GAA leadership took action.

"We have to be seen to be serious about this. And we have to be serious about defending our referees. The amount of criticism of recent times has really got serious. It's happening when teams are beaten. For anybody, team manager or team official, to brand a referee's handling of a game as 'a disgrace' is uncalled for and it is not acceptable.

It's discouraging young people from taking up refereeing, particularly at club level. They are not interested because of the level of abuse they see referees being subjected to.''

Perceptions that referees favoured one team over another were way off the mark, he added.

"Any referee trying to advance his career could not afford to 'lean' towards a team. But that is what the fans like to believe,'' he added.

A statement issued from Croke Park yesterday stressed the need to 'defend and protect' referees at all levels of the Association from criticism of them and other match officials by county officers, team managers and others.

As a result, disciplinary committees are being urged to take stern and swift action against those who carry out the abuse by words or gestures before, during or after games.

The statement added: "All officers have a particular responsibility to measure their comments and statements after games, since they have a duty to protect the referees and uphold the disciplinary structures in their own counties. Where county officers or team managers want to express an opinion about a referee they should contact the Provincial Referees' Administrator.''

In an attempt to enforce the policy, a clear warning is being issued that any attempt to contact a referee will be considered as 'intimidation' and dealt with under rule.

Under this heading, contact with a referee after a game for the purpose of seeking clarification of his report by a team official or anybody associated with a team is prohibited.

Furthermore, there should be no contact with a referee or his family, at his home or place of work, regarding a game.

Fr Gardiner said he was not aware of this happening to any referee at inter-county level. However, he didn't rule out the fact that it has happened at club level in the past.

It would be acknowledged that any incident of a referee's report carrying a 'watered down' version of a serious offence would lead to the suspicion that he would have come under pressure not to report the full facts.

The statement also carries an interesting clarification of the rule relating to the use of radio communications equipment now that inter-county referees are 'wired up' which was called into question by Westmeath recently.

It pointed out that Central Council upheld a previous decision with regard to the use of radio as a means of communication between match officials. The Council also agreed that it was acceptable for a linesman to use radio communication to bring unnoticed incidents to the attention of the referee.

Additionally, it points out that a referee does not need to approach another match official in order for a consultation to take place.