‘MANAGERS NEED MORE DIALOGUE WITH REFEREES’

ON THE hot topic of referees and the mounting crisis over the physical or verbal abuse of officials, Davy Fitzgerald suggests one area which might improve matters at intercounty level and foster a better relationship. ‘One thing that I would love the GAA to maybe consider is communication with the referees. Definitely from an inter-county point of view, if you could have a few minutes with them the day or two before the game to see what way they are thinking of reffing the game and if they have any things they want to…. I think we might get it five minutes before the match but the ref is actually tense enough and he has enough on his plate. ‘I’d love to see a bit of communication and even a bit of communication afterwards. ‘There is decisions that would annoy you but if you could actually have a chat to see what way they saw it or they could say to you, “Listen, I got that wrong”. ‘I think we could learn a lot from rugby and how they handle themselves and how to deal with things. ‘Sometimes managers get very frustrated because they see decisions they know are wrong and the referee mightn’t accept that they are wrong at the time. ‘I think there has to be a case where we as managers know that referees are not going to get every decision right, and we will challenge it, but at the end of the day they are human beings. They deserve to be treated properly. ‘I just think a bit of common sense. Let’s respect the referees for definite, anyone that goes near a referee or hits a referee should be probably banned for life, gone. End of story. ‘Communication is something we should explore.’