There has been uproar in many quarters following suggestions that the GAA may phase out the time-honoured tradition of assaulting referees.
“Bad enough that you don’t see high fielding any more,” a former player said. “If they get rid of assaulting referees our games will be completely unrecognisable.”
“All the old skills are gone from the game I loved,” he added.
“Assaulting referees brings communities together,” a county secretary said. “Now more than ever, in these difficult times, the country needs to hold on to its traditions.”
The move comes after mobile phone footage of an assault on a Tipperary referee was put on YouTube.
Supporters of assaulting referees believe that the filming of the incidents rather than the incidents themselves is causing the problem. “Mobile phones should be banned from matches,” a supporter said. “No one complained in the old days when we kidnapped the referees we didn’t hit.”
