Practical problems facing referees as games draw near

GAA REFEREES must travel alone to take charge of club championship games unless their umpires are family members. National Referees’ Development Chairman Willie Barrett has explained it is one of the precautions in place when club games return from July 17.

‘The referee will have to go in his own car and his umpires will have to make other arrangements to get there as well. If they are members of his own family they can travel with him,’ he said.

‘In the next couple of weeks, referees will be discussing this with their umpires, but the advice is to travel individually or at least two cars for the referee’s group.

‘There could be extra expense involved in doing that, of course. ‘Because dressing-rooms will be closed for the time being, the referee will have to arrive togged and he will have to go home directly afterwards. There will have to be a sanitiser for every field,’ he added.

The Tipperary native, who refereed All-Ireland Senior hurling finals in 1994 and 2000, has also admitted that the shortage of referees in counties is likely to be felt even more keenly with the intense championship schedules from next month.

‘I have no doubt that referees will be operating twice on a weekend to get games played. We have to give consideration to how viable that is.

‘You can’t just expect a referee to officiate in one game, hop into a car and go off to another venue. That can’t happen any more.

‘Administrators will have to check if referees are willing to officiate. There may also be an issue about the mature referees who may be reviewing if they are comfortable to do what they have been doing. Everybody has to review their situation, whether you’re a player, referee, linesman or umpire.’

Meanwhile, as Wexford prepare for the opening of the club championships, little news has been forthcoming regarding the availability or non-availability of referees.

Given the age profile of the county’s more experienced referees, it may well come down to a small number of men in black to become available for the top games.

And there could be a struggle to have a sufficient number of referees to cover all grades from Senior down to Junior, while there is also the under-age championship schedule to be taken into consideration.

Given Wexford’s proposed fixture schedule of midweek games along with weekend fixtures, it could lead to match officials officiating at up to three hugely important games in a seven-day window, not taking in the under-age fixture schedule.

In addition, many of the GAA officials also officiate in the local soccer league which is to resume side by side with both hurling and football from July 18-19, making for more difficult calls.

There is still a body of work to be done before the club scene is back up and running, not just concerning referees but also players.

What we have at present are two associations trying to serve the needs of players.

We have the Club Players’ Association (CPA) and the Gaelic Players’ Association (GPA).

One would have felt that the GPA should be sufficient as representative of all players, not just the elite, so one would question the need for the CPA.

Croke Park can hardly be blamed for the mixed messages emanating from the respective groups.

The CPA is calling on the GAA for a fixtures plan to be installed for the club player.

Meanwhile, the best on offer from the GPA is that the insurance scheme of the association be re-opened to cover inter-county training prior to the official start-up date of September 14. So much for their support of the ordinary club player.

The stance of the GPA is igniting an already volatile club versus county scenario, with club championships being run off in a timeframe in Wexford that is insulting to the ordinary club player.

His season could be over in the space of a handful of weeks, if he is a dual player.

This is an opportunity for the CPA. Given Wexford’s blitz championship schedule in both hurling and football, can they grasp the opportunity and make a stance on behalf of the ordinary club player?

There may be some difficult days and weeks ahead.