Refereeing has hit a new low, says Keating
TIPPERARY legend Michael ‘Babs’ Keating believes the standard of officiating during last weekend’s round of Allianz Hurling League matches was the worst he had ever seen. There were 92 frees awarded between the two Division 1 matches at Croke Park and Pairc Uí Chaoimh while Wexford’s win over Dublin was also marred by a number of controversial dismissals. The former Premier boss said that he walked away from inter-county management because of bad refereeing but he doesn’t believe the standard has improved. ‘Last weekend was the worst I have ever seen,’ Keating said. ‘You hear Kieran Kingston come out last Sunday night and say more or less that the referee destroyed the game — they are fooling themselves if they think this is going to continue. ‘[Armagh All-Ireland winning manager] Joe Kernan and myself were invited to a committee 14 years ago to look at this,’ Keating said. ‘We were adamant that the GAA should look for between 12 to 16 guys who had recently retired from the game. They would have the common sense to know that everyone is vulnerable to making a mistake. ‘The players deserve better. Before all the big games with Tipperary, we always met on the Saturday night and devoted three quarters of an hour to discipline. It doesn’t make a difference to the GAA because Croke Park will always be full. But is it good enough for a team training for months for bad decisions to ruin their season?’ Keating wondered.
And the Tipperary native also feels that the GAA needs to address the umpiring issue. ‘You see them in Croke Park looking for Hawkeye and you ask yourself, ‘What would they do in Portlaoise or Limerick, where there’s no Hawkeye?” ‘As a manager, If I don’t do well, I am gone. But referees or umpires are never gone. It is ring-aring-a-rosie with them.’