McEnaney happy referees are out of the video picture

REFEREE Pat McEnaney has voiced his opposition to the new refereeing rule which comes into force for this year’s All-Ireland championships.

The GAA’s Annual Congress on Saturday passed an altered Legan Sarsfields motion, which will now give the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) power to recommend suspensions to players based on video evidence of incidents not seen by the referee.

Former match official John Bannon accepted an amendment to his proposal after consulting with Cork secretary Frank Murphy and Central Hearings Committee chairman Liam Keane.

Monaghan native McEnaney was a big supporter of Bannon’s original motion, which would have given the CCCC the authority to hand down any punishment they feel the referee hadn’t dealt with appropriately, whether witnessed by the match official or not. As much as McEnaney welcomes the fact referees no longer have a role in the disciplinary process — other than to confirm to the CCCC if they have or have not seen an incident — he can’t reconcile with the idea that whistlers’ mistakes can no longer be rectified.

“I disagree with it in the sense a player can no longer be exonerated if a referee has made an error in handing him a red card,” said McEnaney.

“But I also disagree with it because if a referee has made a mistake in giving a player a yellow card instead of a red it can no longer be upgraded. I’m happy referees are out of the whole video evidence thing. Matters should never come back to the referee after he has made his decision. But if we’re allowing a situation when a player has no option but to accept a harsh red card or gets away with a yellow when it should have been a red then that’s wrong. If there is new evidence that shows a decision was unfair or too lenient then it should be used. My belief was ‘leave the referee out of it’.”

Both Bannon and Director General Páraic Duffy have raised concerns over the new rule putting more pressure on officials to make the right decisions.

Now that the CCCC can’t revisit any referee’s report, Duffy warned referees will be stood down if they are not seen to hand out deserving punishment to indisciplined players.

However, McEnaney doesn’t believe the rule will exert any more pressure on referees to make the right calls.

“Not at all,” he insisted. “When you go out onto the pitch you don’t even think about that at all.”

Meanwhile, Cavan’s Joe McQuillan has been appointed referee for Sunday’s Allianz Division 1 final between Dublin and Cork at Croke Park while on Sunday Sligo’s Marty Duffy is the man in the middle for the Division 2 showdown between Laois and Donegal, which will precede the top-flight game at HQ.

The Division 3 final between Louth and Westmeath, which is also set for Croke Park, will be officiated by Clare man Rory Hickey with Derry’s Barry Cassidy taking charge of the Longford v Roscommon Division 4 clash.

Extra-time will apply to all finals if necessary and all will be live on TG4.