GAA dismiss Loughnane’s ref claims
Former All-Ireland-winning manager Loughnane said it was “widely believed” that Cork had blocked the appointment of Ryan to handle the All-Ireland final replay, which was eventually refereed by James McGrath.
However, GAA officials said last night that the “views of participating counties carry no weight in that decision”.
Johnny Ryan took charge of Sunday’s Munster SHC quarter-final between Cork and Waterford in Semple Stadium and came into sharp focus late in the first half, when Cork won a penalty.
The penalty was taken by Anthony Nash in his now-familiar style, throwing the ball forward before striking it, and Waterford keeper Stephen O’Keeffe came off his line to block the shot; Cork eventually managed a point from Bill Cooper from the rebound, but a melee ensued involving several players.
Loughnane said Ryan had been correct in his interpretation of the rules in Thurles.
“Johnny was absolutely right,” Loughnane said on The Sunday Game on RTÉ.
“In fairness he stood his ground. He was under big pressure because it’s widely believed that Johnny was going to referee the replay of the All-Ireland last year, but Cork didn’t want him.
“He stood up to that pressure today and came under pressure again at half-time from the Cork officials.”
Asked if he was sure of his facts, Loughnane added: “That’s my interpretation of what happened. But at half-time he came under pressure not only from Anthony Nash but from the Cork officials.”
Yesterday, however, GAA operations manager Fergal McGill rejected out of hand any suggestion that counties have any influence over the referees who are appointed to their championship games.
“Absolutely not. Appointments are made by the Central Referee Appointment Committee (CRAC) for all our championship games, and it doesn’t let itself be influenced in that way whatsoever.
“Counties have no input. Not at all. The CRAC operates completely independently.
“It decides who the most appropriate person is to handle an All-Ireland final, or any other game, based on the quality of the referee, his suitability for the given game, etc.
“There are many criteria taken into consideration but I can assure you that the views of the participating counties carry no weight in that decision.”
Cork County Board chairman Bob Ryan would not be drawn on Loughnane’s yesterday, suggesting that the Feakle man was attempting to distract Cork in the build-up to next Sunday’s Munster semi-final.
“We’re not going to make any comment good, bad or indifferent in relation to what that man said Sunday night,” said Ryan.
“He’s only attempting to deflect from the match next Sunday, but we’ll comment next week when the game with Clare is over.
“He’s only trying to create a big row this week and we’re not going to be sucked into that.
“The best of luck to Mr Loughnane — it’s the same old story for him.”
Loughnane also claimed on Sunday evening that Johnny Ryan had been correct not to issue a card to Brian O’Sullivan of Waterford, who appeared to strike Cork’s Damien Cahalane with the hurley early on in Sunday’s game.
“Do you give a red card in the first minute?” said Loughnane. “There’s no rule against it, but I think a red would have been very, very harsh.
“These things happen. He hit him in a place that wasn’t going to cause major damage. If he was going to give a card, it would have to be a red. Johnny chose not to give any card. I think he was right.”
Meanwhile, Munster GAA chairman Robert Frost has declared himself “happy” with the 22,096 attendance at Semple Stadium last Sunday.
And Frost is predicting a 30,000 crowd at the Thurles venue next Sunday for the meeting of his native Clare, the reigning All-Ireland champions, and Cork.
Frost said: “I think Cork will come out a bit more and Clare will have a bigger following than Waterford. It’s a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland final, which is a big draw. You can’t get much bigger than that.”
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