Abuse of Referees

Ah jaysus, no way should they have appealed based on that. Anyone can make a mistake like that.

I don't know the ins and outs of this game and normally I would defend referees. However this individual would not be refereeing county finals if not for their connections with the county board.

Give respect, get respect should be a two way street. I am not justifying abuse that he clearly received but I wouldn't justify a referee abusing players either.

He has verbally abused players during games.

He was abused during the game due to his, alleged, previous actions?

Carnew is a kip and I wouldn’t want to be associated with some of the behaviour their club has been involved in.

However that doesn’t detract from the fact that not every referee behaves in a respectful manner.

Some of the comments on this thread highlight the fact why we have huge issues within the GAA when it comes to abuse of referees. Have a look at the Ruggers at the weekend. 2 NZ players yellowed. 1 SA player yellowed. The obediently left the field without so much as whimper.

That's how it should work. Until it becomes taboo to verbally criticise a referee or abuse them it will be acceptable for certain clubs to behave the way they do. And make no mistake about it. It follows certain clubs like a bad smell.

Problem number 1 is the vast number of supporters don't know the rules, or how the referees interpretation works , one referee will differ from the next but will usually be consistent to how he always interprets the game

Problem number 2 is the Sunday game, they constantly ignore this in there criticism , they never highlight this, and if I was a betting man I would suggest that they have very little knowledge of how most referees call a game

I don't think a pod is a good idea. Referees get multiple decisions wrong in a game. We just need to accept that. Some people can't accept that. A pod won't improve anything in my opinion.

With the shortage of referees available to referee games, I can't see where they will get the time to go to meetings. And they are probably the sort who volunteer for other activities as well such as training underage.

Was the Girls Under 14 A Final such a prestigious gig that connections with the County Board were called on to get it? Wicklow is no different than other counties with the shortage. Any such meetings would probably be mostly an exchange of stories about the latest vile abuse they suffered from the players and the sidelines.

https://www.independent.ie/regionals/wicklow/sport/gaa/referee-shortage-in-wicklow-gaa-is-absolutely-diabolical/42342437.html

Played football from childhood to early 30s. When I finished with football I took up rugby as a more "social" sport to play. Playing football I'd say I was hated by every ref in my county - constantly shouting, giving out, complaining about every decision against the team. Looking back now it's embarrassing to think what I was like.

Playing rugby, I knew from the get-go that if I carried on like that 1) it wouldn't be tolerated by my teammates or club, and 2) that the refs wouldn't stand for it and that I'd likely find myself on the sideline fairly sharpish, and then in front of a disciplinary hearing fairly quickly afterwards. I'm now on some of the committees in my rugby club, and I can see the sanctions that come from Branch to clubs if there are instances of player OR sideline abuse towards referees (including abuse from supporters/parents) - teams losing home advantage for games being a common punishment, with escalation to other teams within the club also losing home advantage if there were subsequent offences.

On the flipside of this - I do notice that rugby referees are much more willing to engage with players to explain their decisions (probably due to knowing that the engagement is going to be relatively respectful). GAA referees, in my experience, were rarely willing to elaborate or explain on anything once the whistle was (or wasn't!) blown - but it's hard to say whether that is a consequence of the confrontational relationship between players and referees or a contributing factor to it.

IMO, behaviour towards referees will only change when the GAA gets serious about tackling it.

Referees need to be given a strict mandate to clamp down on dissent from players and abuse from the sideline, and they need to be supported strongly by their county boards, provincial boards and the GAA centrally. It would take some adjustment in attitudes, but once teams realise that there will be serious consequences to referee abuse then they'll shift very quickly towards trying to stamp it out amongst their own players and supporters.

And? This is something that helps both existing refs and new refs. can help people who may want to start reffing and need more assistance to become a better referee which is only a good thing

What a tramp, and they’re on camera for all to see. But yet again it’ll be swept under the carpet by the GAA.

The reaction to the videos from yesterday online sum up what is wrong around the GAA when it comes to abuse of referees. Comments such as he dived, making himself the centre of attention etc. Making a joke of it only encourages this sort of stuff. Takes a bit of bottle to correct a mistake like that in those circumstances, and at least it was done. As Windy says it shows how few people know the rules of the game.

Agree 100% that the club and person should be heavily punished but I don’t agree with your deflection away from the referee in this instance, Windy.

The referee's lack of knowledge of the rules escalated this way more than it should ever have been. A referee should know the rules of the game. Saying he panicked is a bit of a cop out imo. The linesman seems to have had to correct him on the application of the rule.

Just to be clear, I'm not condoning the way he was treated in the slightest and the big issue is that clubs and people involved aren't getting punished enough, a referee should never be abused, but on the other hand, a referee has to know the rules.

The ref made a mistake. It can happen to anyone. End of the game, he is probably tired, action is happening pretty quickly.

He was correct in that it was a foul, just his application of the award was incorrect.

Jaysis, we are getting pretty deep into things now when refs can't even make a genuine mistake, which he rectified, without people saying he was basically asking for the reaction.

Maybe, and here's a thought, maybe the player, who wasn't even playing and therefore shouldn't have even entered the pitch should learn how to deal with his emotions. The man who attacked the ref is upset because his team didn't get a penalty that they shouldn't have got! Would he react the same way if a ref gave a point but was then checked by Hawk-Eye and reversed? It's pathetic.

My god. Now refs are being attacked for applying the rules correctly but it upset the man?

Tullamore should be facing a suspension from games for the rest of the season, that fan facing a lifetime ban from games and he should be looking at an assault charge.

What kind of scumbag must he be to act like that. If a 5 yr old acted like it you would be disgusted at the immaturity of it.

I get that.

My point I suppose is that when the conversation is:

Well, this is absolutely brutal that refs are getting attacked...

and the next point in return is:

Correct, though he should never have made that mistake.

Its giving (in my view) the impression that the response was somehow justified, or provoked, by bad refereeing.

You might not see it that way, I do.

I have absolutely no issue with a conversation on refereeing standards. However I just dont think it should be anywhere near a conversation about why referees are being attacked, or what the GAA should do about it.

We have all seen games where refs have made mistakes. It should be expected that they will make mistakes. Again, its an amateur sport, & they are doing their best.

I get how you're seeing it. For me, I can separate the two, and they are very separate in my head. I tried to stress that from the first post.

I think punishment, proper and severe punishment for clubs and people involved should be the first thing addressed. I will leave it at that.

Thats nonsense. Yes an official can be unsure of rules occasionally but thats on the GAA as much as the official themselves as they need to train and help officials a lot more. A linesman if a fully uqualified official helping the ref shouldnt be seen as a bad thing. when in fact its proper game managemeqnt and team work by the officials to get to the correct decision....

Consultation probably happens as often as is needed. Instances like the one in Tullamore would be rare. None of us could know how often it happens during thousands of club games.

It would be good if the club came out and condemned the player.

Clubs need to stand up against this type of carry on.

The gouger needs to be punished and condemed. Barry Tiernan got the decision correct after consultation.

He done nothing wrong.

I'll bet before long we will hear the lads come out and defend him citing mental health nonsense.

A 5 year ban for him and a 3 year ban for tullamore from playing in Leinster at all grades and codes. If we want to sort this then we'll have to have really draconian punishments.