Cork board not forced into ref climbdown

Croke Park top-brass did not dictate the Cork County Board issue a clarification to referee Pádraig Hughes for suggesting the Armagh referee cost their footballers an All-Ireland semi-final berth.

Cork PRO Edmond Forrest yesterday confirmed the board executive had last week sent a letter to Hughes clarifying a statement they issued on Monday, August 3, which insinuated the Armagh official was partly to blame for their championship elimination.

Forrest insisted there was no pressure forthcoming from GAA hierarchy to contact Hughes, rather the desire of the Cork County Board to set the record straight, as they believed part of their statement had been taken out of context.

In the statement issued one month after the drawn Munster football final in which Hughes awarded Kerry a controversial penalty for a Mark Collins challenge on James O’Donoghue, the Cork executive claimed “it is quite probable that but for a totally wrong refereeing decision in that game, Cork would now be in an All-Ireland semi-final”.

The statement’s main purpose was to thank departing football boss Brian Cuthbert, making reference also to the “unjustified” criticism he was subjected to, and while the PRO said the executive

regretted the implied criticism of Hughes, he stopped short of admitting their regret over the statement as a whole.

“A note was sent to Pádraig and the referees committee outlining that the statement was essentially in support of the retired football manager and it was unfortunate that it was interpreted, or part of it was interpreted, as criticism of the referee which was never intended,” Forrest stressed.

“Cork are happy to play under Pádraig [Hughes] at any stage.

“It was clear from the reaction that part of the statement was being interpreted as direct criticism of the referee. That was never our intention.

“It is regretted that part of the statement was taken out of context as criticism of the referee. That was the motivation of the note, to clarify the record with regards to Pádraig.”

Forrest added: “I would expect [the statement as a whole] will be dealt with next Tuesday night at the August meeting of the county board.”