Roscommon GAA are investigating an alleged attack on the referee of a match on Wednesday night. Medical attention was required and the match, a minor fixture between St Aidan’s and St Dominic’s, was abandoned.
Played in Ballyforan, St Aidan’s home ground, the match was well contested and the score stood at 0-4 to 0-3, with favourites St Dominic’s narrowly ahead in the third quarter.
According to a witness, the incident occurred after an Aidan’s player carried the ball into a tackle and was dispossessed – fairly, according to the decision of referee Kevin Naughton of Clann na nGael, which triggered some protests on the sideline.
The referee, who is a well-regarded official, was subsequently approached in the middle of the field by a man from the sideline shouting abuse, for which he was reportedly immediately red carded before he got as far as the official.
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A physical altercation is then believed to have taken place after which the official fell to the ground where he lay while medical assistance was summoned.
A statement from the county was issued on Thursday morning.
“Roscommon GAA is aware of an incident involving a referee during an underage match in Ballyforan on Wednesday evening. We would like to wish the referee involved in this incident a speedy recovery.
“Roscommon GAA strongly condemns any behaviour that puts any of our match officials at risk. The CCC will commence a full investigation into the incident. We will not be making any further comment at this time,” the statement concluded.
Gardaí are also investigating the incident. A video clip is also in circulation on social media but it doesn’t capture the assault, moving instead from the play to a shot of the referee lying on the ground.
Later on Thursday, St Aidan’s announced that it too was investigating the matter.
“First and foremost, our thoughts are with the referee, and we wish him a speedy recovery. We would also like to thank the medical personnel who assisted him following the incident.”
“The club will co-operate fully with Roscommon CCC and Roscommon GAA in their investigation into the matter.”
“We will not be making any further comment at this time,” the statement concluded.
Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, Meath All-Ireland referee David Gough said that a cultural change is needed within the GAA. Gough, who said that whereas he had never experienced physical abuse, he had been on the receiving end of verbal, at times homophobic, abuse, called for tougher sanctions.
“It’s a massive cultural change that has to come from the top level within the GAA. I know we have our, ‘Give respect, get respect’ initiative but it is just an initiative, a two-page document handed out to the clubs that asked to sign up to it. But there’s no real sanctions if people don’t adhere to the recommendations in the initiative.
“We end up going back to the GAA rule book, which I know from experience has a huge number of loopholes in it and we’ll have to wait for what happens with the report from Roscommon CCC to see how this matter is going to be dealt with.”
Minister of State for Sport Jack Chambers described the incident as ‘disgraceful’ on Twitter.
“I condemn the disgraceful incident that occurred at a GAA match yesterday. This matter needs to be investigated in full by the relevant authorities and any individual found responsible for harming a match official needs to be held to account. My thoughts are with the referee.
“Referees are central to sport and participation in our communities. Our games cannot happen without them. A very strong message must go out that any abuse of match officials is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in sport. Referees must be respected and protected in all sports.”
