Déise board apologises to All Star Mullane
The controversy occurred during the replayed Waterford SHC quarter-final between Mullane’s De La Salle and Ballygunner.
Mullane, who was suspended following a red card in the drawn game, was watching the match from the sideline along with his team’s management and substitutes.
However midway through the second half referee Pat Casey ordered the star forward from the field. He duly left and watched the remainder of the game from the embankment behind the town goal.
De La Salle chiefs claim the referee had been approached by a Ballygunner official regarding the legality of a suspended player being inside the playing area.
A De La Salle spokesman said: “He was asked politely but firmly by the referee to leave the field and he did so with great dignity. It was however a complete humiliation of a player who has given extraordinary service to club, to county, and to the GAA at so many levels over many years.”
De La Salle contacted Croke Park on Monday to discuss the matter.
The club spokesman added: “We sought clarification on John Mullane’s position. We have been told that he was not debarred in any way from being where he was on the sideline for last weekend’s replay. John Mullane is now owed a fulsome public apology by both the County Board and Ballygunner for, effectively, being evicted from the playing arena.
“We are calling on the Board and the club to tender that apology to him.”
The County Board yesterday issued a statement on the matter accepting that: “an error was made in asking Mullane to leave the playing field and for that, and for any embarrassment the incident may have caused the player and his family, the board deeply regrets and apologises.”
Ballygunner officials also offered its “sincere apologies to the player and his club, expressing the hope that the incident will not in any way damage the great relationship that has existed between the two clubs over the years.”
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