REFEREES PLANNING TO CRACK DOWN ON MELEES
THE GAA’s referees’ development chairman Willie Barrett says Croke Park is going to crack down on melees for the Championship, with multiple red cards for offenders likely to be issued. In an attempt to clamp down on any potential unseemly scenes, the GAA is determined to take whatever corrective action is needed, irrespective of how many players are involved. ‘We obviously want all fouls penalised, but we have honed in on a number of things that came up in the National League,’ Barrett said. ‘We’ve seen a number of games where a melee has occurred and we’ve asked our referees to deal with it very strongly. ‘Where there are two players involved, it’s fine, the referee can deal with it. But where more players come in and add to that... it then becomes a melee. What’s a melee? Making a bad situation worse. ‘So we feel that we need to deal with that and we’ve given clear instruction to referees that red cards must be issued in those situations where players are coming in and you’re eventually seeing five or six or seven players involved. ‘We would be particularly honing in on the first and second person in to the melee, shall we say, after two players have been involved. ‘We believe that’s causing other players to come in. Likewise, in hurling, if it’s left to the two players and the referees and officials, there’s generally no difficulty.’ The biggest game of the weekend is Mayo’s Connacht football showdown with Galway. When the pair met in the League, a melee was just one element of a fractious encounter in which 18 cards were issued, including three red. ‘We’re not encouraging multiple red cards, but we are encouraging that fellas will be dealt with who move in and are the lads who contribute most to that melee. Made it worse, in other words.’ He identified two other areas of focus, ensuring there is player compliance with the wearing of a mouth guard in football and the head-high tackle, in either code. ‘Where they’re head-high, hit into the face, we believe it’s a red card. We have that scenario as well in hurling and we believe an elbow to the face or the head is a strike, is a red card.’ Barrett is also open to the idea of a television match official being explored. ‘There are so many things happening in the GAA at the moment with the new Championship. We have had changes in hurling and football and to be fair to the GAA we’ve had Hawk-Eye brought in, black cards, extra official for sideline duty. Many changes have taken place. I’m sure that’s something that will be looked at in the future.’