Tom Ryan rejects claim GAA is ‘soft’ on tackling abuse of referees

GAA director general Tom Ryan. Picture: INPHO/Ryan Byrne

The GAA has rejected that it is “soft” on discipline at a Dáil joint committee hearing ‘to discuss elimination of abuse against referees, officials and players in sport’.

The association accepted that while there was “some frustrations from referees as to how the CCC deals with (abuse)” it possessed a “full suite of disciplinary processes” to address the issue, including expulsion.

While instances of abuse of referees in GAA have not received the same amount of coverage as soccer, GAA director general Tom Ryan told the joint committee: “Sadly we are not immune.”

During questioning from Alan Dillon TD — deputy chair of the Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media joint committee — the former Mayo captain asked if the GAA was “soft in terms of disciplinary sanctions” against those who abused match officials.

The Fine Gael TD and two-time All-Star questioned the reporting and tracking systems in place at Croke Park, and if they were adequate to record the true extent of the problem.

GAA director general Tom Ryan appeared with National Match Officials manager Donal Smyth who revealed that while 104 players were sent off at inter-county level over the course of 1,000 games this year, three instances were for the abuse of match officials.

“I would have to admit that speaks to me of under-reporting (and) I have nothing empirical as to what the level should have been but would accept there were more than three instances of abuse,” Smyth told the committee.

He explained that while disciplinary matters were recorded in match reports which were electronically submitted within 24 hours of inter-county games, county matches were still entered through “paper-based” reports.

Questioning whether the “GAA is soft in terms of disciplinary sanctions” the director general rejected the charge instead pointing to the appeals process.

“Respectfully no. That’s a quite a broad statement. The one thing that there is built into the system is that there is a right of appeal at every stage, it’s important that protocols are built in,” said Ryan.

Smyth explained that the GAA is working on dealing with the figures centrally and how they’re gathered at a county board level, with support from a Belfast academic.

The GAA also emphasised that a significant problem is the area of social media abuse and it is one that the association has taken issue with vocally this year.

“One interesting aspect in terms of social media is that our highest profile stars and players are amateurs, and they still have to go to college or work after a game,” said Ryan. “Criticism is fair, but it has to be balanced, measured and informed.”

The GAA does not have the same issues as the FAI with regards retention of match officials — where many young referees are turning their backs on soccer according to evidence gathered by the Cork branch of the ISRS which will see a halving in numbers within eight years.

The GAA looks to recruit up to 250 new officials each year and is doing so without experiencing a fall in numbers.

The GAA, IRFU and FAI, along with the Irish Soccer Referees Society were questioned by TDs and Senators for more than two hours in the specially convened session, which was called in the wake of the cancellation of two league programmes in soccer two weeks ago.

The most disturbing evidence came from the ISRS through its vice-president Sean Slattery who told the committee that his organisation faced the “full spectrum, from referees being physically attacked, intimidated, hit.”

“We had a case recently where a referee was approached and told ‘we’ll get you’, while another was called on a private number at home and told he’d ‘be knifed’ at his next match.”

Tom Ryan said that the GAA is dealing with a number of incidents including one at a high profile Championship match.

“Twice last year two of our top referees took awful abuse, in ordinary club games in some cases referees don’t report them and it’s insidious, when the top referees are getting it, what’s happening at the lower levels of the game?”.

In the area of identifying and suspending those who abuse referees from a spectator standpoint, the GAA said the issue “proves very difficult” in trying to make the distinction between the general public and members of the association.

In his opening remarks to the committee Tom Ryan said that the GAA is working hard to improve behaviours towards referees but “not all determining factors are within our direct control”.

“There is a pervading climate among those who watch and report on our games, and more significantly those anonymous commentators on discussion forums and social media to persistently pass judgement,” he said.

“This is often unfair, with little balance, and frequently with very little actual knowledge of the rules of the game. Despite our best efforts this lack of respect can at times transfer itself to the field of play.

“Match Officials and on-field discipline is a vital part of our, and every other, sporting association. Their contribution cannot be overstated. Put simply, if we do not have referees and officials to monitor our games, then we simply will not have games.”

The IRFU hit a similar tone when it accepted that the area of social media is becoming a growing problem for the organisation.

“Unfortunately, abuse of match officials is on the rise, and while rugby has a good reputation for respecting our officials, we are not immune and must continue to take the matter extremely seriously,” said its Head of Referees Dudley Philips. “One only has to look at any of the many social media posts that arise from sport week in week out to see evidence of this.”

The FAI described the matter as a “scourge” as its Chair of the Referee’s Committee Gerard Perry revealed that there were 34 cases recorded of match abuse of officials brought to its Disciplinary Control Unit since 2019.