Referees threaten strike as feelings run high...
Tuesday, October 16th, 2001
The prospect of a strike by eircom League referees is looming as angry whistlers meet this weekend to discuss their response to allegations made by Shelbourne manager Dermot Keely that the League is corrupt.
The referees are on the verge of revolt because they are unhappy at the manner in which the FAI and the eircom League responded to Keely's comments.
The FAI set up a Commission of Inquiry into Keely's allegations but a leading referee last night described this as "a whitewash."
Last month, following Shelbourne's defeat by Shamrock Rovers, Keely alleged that there was a vendetta against his club and that the league was corrupt.
Those comments incensed the 53 members of the eircom League referees' panel and they have called an emergency meeting in Portlaoise on Saturday to discuss their concerns and decide on their response.
They have already informed the eircom League that they are unavailable to officiate at U-21 matches on Saturday, but they will fulfill their obligations to the two Premier Division and two First Division games scheduled for Saturday night.
Referees are particularly unhappy that they are not allowed to respond to comments made about them last season FIFA referee John McDermott was removed from the eircom League panel for a month, having been charged with bringing the game into disrepute after writing an article for a football website.
Another referee, who declined to be named for fear he too would be charged under the same rule, claimed that feeling is running high among the refs.
"I want to see Dermot Keely being forced to apologise and retract what he said. His comments were the most outrageous I have ever heard," he said.
"We believe the League has sidelined the issue by setting up a commission. It's a whitewash. They probably won't report back until December or January and then all he'll get is a slap on the wrists."
The referee stressed that the whistlers' anger wasn't being directed only at Keely. "Almost every manager has had a go at some time or another.
"We can all take criticism but it is wrong that it is allowed to go unchallenged. Referees should be allowed to have a spokesman to respond on their behalf like Philip Don does in England."
Commissioner Roy Dooney disputed the referees' claim that the League had not responded properly to the Keely incident.
© Philip Quinn - Irish Independent
Re: Referees threaten strike as feelings run high...
Heh, that's funny. By complaining that the investigation was a "whitewash", haven't the referees just asserted that the league is in fact corrupt? Q.E.D.? :)
adam
