GAA referees' boss accepts provocation is a big issue

The GAA’s national referees development chairman Seán Walsh accepts provocation has become a major issue in Gaelic football but admits it’s not an easy task for match officials to detect.

Walsh says the behaviour of targeting players has been a constant item on the agenda at national referees’ seminars this year, long before this past weekend’s All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals.

On Saturday, Dublin and Tyrone managers, Jim Gavin and Mickey Harte, claimed Diarmuid Connolly and Seán Cavanagh were targeted by Donegal and Mayo players respectively.