Umpires in stand-off with Three Rock Rovers

HOCKEY:Leinster hockey umpires are continuing to refuse to appoint their members to matches involving Three Rock Rovers because of a letter sent to their association by "an unhappy parent and supporter" of Three Rock Rovers. The letter complained about a specific Leinster umpire and the language in the letter was deemed by the umpires association to be offensive both to the umpire to whom it was addressed and to the association.

"I was stunned by the content. It was basically accusing us of cheating," said the umpire at the centre of the controversy. "We took an executive decision not to appoint umpires to Rovers matches - both men's and ladies' games - and we circulated our members with a copy of the letter."

The letter was also forwarded to the Leinster branch and to the Irish Hockey Association.

In a series of questions, the writer asked: "3. Why wear a yellow shirt (standard for Leinster umpires) when umpiring these games when it is blatantly obvious what side you favour?"

It went on to ask, "5. Why a Corinthians umpire was umpiring a Corinthians game next door on the same day. If this is not umpire fixing then I don't know what is?"

It continued: "If these are methods and levels with which you have to stoop to ensure success for Glenanne, we would prefer to finish in an honest fashion down the ladder. You wonder why the players have no respect for umpires, one has to give respect to receive respect."

It went on to say the umpires were breaking the rules of sportsmanship and that they should know how to be impartial.

"It was seen as extremely offensive by those who read it," said the umpire. "The executive committee (of the Leinster Hockey Umpires Association) then took the decision not to appoint umpires to Rovers matches. It is in our constitution that we must protect the interests of umpires, and being exposed to those matches wasn't in the interests of our members.

"We have asked for an apology from Rovers, which hasn't been forthcoming, although I have since received an apology from the person who wrote the letter."

For now there seems to be a Mexican stand-off. The umpires, believing they deserve an apology from Three Rock Rovers, refuse to send anyone out to those matches. For any given weekend that would affect at least a dozen matches over all the teams in both the men's and ladies' sections.

The Leinster Senior Cup semi-final last week between Glenanne and Three Rock Rovers at Grange Road was the highest profile game to suffer. As no official umpires were available, each team supplied their own and the game went ahead, with Glenanne winning with a golden goal.

Clearly, though, the stand-off cannot go on and it is only a matter of time before an incident happens in a match with which the "unofficial" umpires are ill-equipped to deal.

This is unprecedented in hockey, and clearly the Leinster umpires want to make sure it does not happen again. The Leinster branch just wish the problem would go away. "The Leinster branch has offered to hold a meeting with the LHUA," said branch secretary Paul Foster.