Clare referee set to return to action after underage match incident

Clare GAA chairperson Kieran Keating said referee John O'Connell is "in good form" 

Clare referee John O'Connell was escorted off the pitch following an incident after an U15 game on Monday evening.

Clare GAA referee John O'Connell is set to return to officiating on Wednesday evening after being injury injured following an U15 football match between Kilrush-Killimer and Lissycasey on Monday evening.

Video footage which circulated online showed the referee on the ground following a fracas. He was then helped to his feet and escorted from the pitch. 

Gardaí are investigating the incident while Clare GAA are awaiting the referee's report before beginning their investigation. 

"He's in good form, in fairness, yesterday evening," Clare GAA chairperson Kieran Keating told RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland on Wednesday.

"He was down to referee a game this evening and he said he wants to go ahead and do that.

"So that's good news anyway, at least, that he wants to get back on the horse, as they say, and do what him and so many of our referees do so well for us, week in, week out, day in, day out - attend our games, take charge and ensure that our games can go ahead."

Keating, who condemned the incident in a statement to the Irish Examiner on Tuesday, said it was his understanding that the referee ended up on the ground as he had tripped.

"At the end of the game, he'd blown full-time," Keating explained.

"There had been a couple of sendings-off and so on. There was a little bit of an altercation, we will call it. That's probably too small a word for it. But anyway, we'll just call it that for now.

"John ended up on the ground and a number of players and mentors, as we understand it, around him. A few of them there just to protect him from any assault. He sustained an injury to his lip and he was helped up off the ground and walked off the field."