Respect referees to protect our games – Dillon

We must respect our referees if we are to protect the future of our national games, a Fine Gael TD has said.

Deputy Alan Dillon, a former Mayo senior footballer and Deputy Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media, has welcomed the GAA’s plans for a ‘Respect the Referee Day’ next weekend.

The initiative will be held across the country on October 22^nd and 23^rd, with details being announced by Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael, Larry McCarthy. Uachtarán McCarthy stated it is part of the GAA’s commitment to raising the profile of referees, and more importantly, raising awareness of the level of respect that is expected when it comes to supporting match officials.

Deputy Dillon said, “Referees are integral to our national games. As Uachtarán Larry McCarthy has said, they are just as important to the GAA as every player, coach, committee member and volunteer.

“We must show unqualified respect to our referees in order to protect the future of our sport. It is as serious as that. Without our match officials, there is no GAA.

“I welcome the various new initiatives from the GAA to enhance the levels of support for match officials. These include a review of the rules concerning infractions against match officials, a review of how serious infractions are processed and additional training to match officials around reporting disciplinary action.

“Respect the Referee Day will be a really important opportunity to raise awareness of the unacceptable behaviour match officials have suffered, but of course referees need to be able to count on our respect for more than one day. We must build respect for officials into the culture of the sport for the long term.

“The new progressive initiatives of the GAA will help but it is also up to the wider GAA community to encourage respect for match officials. Any sort of violence on our GAA pitches is unacceptable and must be stopped.

“It is unfortunate that poor treatment of referees and officials has been a pervasive problem in our sport for some time now.

“Last year I instigated a session of the Oireachtas Sport Committee to hear from all sporting organisations about their experiences of abuse and threatening behaviour towards referees, officials and players. The stories we heard are completely unacceptable.

“Strong procedures must be put in place to deal with the abuse they are currently experiencing, especially in terms of the completely unacceptable physical abuse. The welfare of referees needs to be paramount for all involved in the GAA”, Deputy Dillon concluded.