Masterson to apologise for criticism of referee

Wexford goalkeeper Anthony Masterson will be forced to issue an apology for the recent remarks he made about referee Derek Fahy, or risk being suspended.

Masterson did not hold back in his criticism of Fahy's refereeing of Wexford's controversial All-Ireland SFC qualifier defeat by Limerick on July 23.

In a post-match interview, he called the decision to allow Ian Ryan's injury-time point to stand 'an absolute joke' and then attacked Fahy's standard of refereeing.

"The whole country knows that he is the world's worst referee and he still gets to referee GAA matches. The whole country knows about it. Ye know it and we know it," he argued.

"It is unbelievable just how he can make a decision like that and I am straight up and honest.

"How long more are we going to get decisions wrong? I just don't care, and I don't care if I get in trouble for it, it is just that I give up too much of my life and to go out and have a decision like that made in GAA is an absolute disgrace."

It turns out that the GAA's Central Competitions Control Committee have decided to take action against Masterson over his outburst.

The Castletown clubman has agreed to apologise in writing for his post-match comments about Fahy. If he fails to do so, he will face the prospect of an eight-week ban.

It is a clear move by GAA disciplinary chiefs to clamp down on players and managers excessively criticising match officials in the media.

But the Wexford players who criticised Fahy on Twitter will not be punished for their remarks. The GAA is making a distinction between comments issued in post-match interviews, which are part of the match event and made by players, and those which are posted on social networking websites, which are deemed to be the personal opinions of private individuals.

Confirming his decision to apologise, Masterson told the Irish Examiner: "I will be making the public apology. I owe it to my club and my club colleagues who I've played with since underage.

"At the time I was shocked. So much so that the shock remained until Monday.

"To get all of this out of my system I even booked a holiday on the Monday following the game. I apologise for what was said in the heat of the moment.

"Hopefully I can concentrate on my club now and our efforts to retain the county title."