John Martin: Disciplinary issues driving away referees

HEADLINES…Waterford’s Austin Gleeson has been in the news all week after the incident against Cork

GAELIC Life hurling columnist John Martin has said that the continuing inconsistencies of the GAA disciplinary process could hurt the recruitment of match officials.

Citing the Austin Gleeson affair in today’s paper, Martin said that the current process is facilitating more criticism of referees and their fellow officials.

“Critics of referees will often state that all they want is common sense and consistency, as if those two qualities go hand-in-hand. They don’t,” he said.

“They are very often in conflict, the Gleeson incident being a case in point. Consistency would have meant a ban for Gleeson, the ‘common sense’ approach ensured he didn’t miss an All-Ireland final.”

The full column is in today Gaelic’s Life, in shops now or available here.