GAA President's anger at early All-Ireland semi-final melee
GAA President Liam O'Neill has expressed his anger at the ugly scenes which marred the start of last Sunday's All-Ireland SHC semi-final between Tipperary and Kilkenny.
Referee Cathal McAllister was quickly called into action as following an early score by Aidan Fogarty for Kilkenny, three separate melees developed involving players from both sides.
The Cork official failed to produce any yellow or red cards following the incidents, with Cats boss Brian Cody stating afterwards that 'it was just good manly stuff'.
However, O'Neill stated yesterday that such incidents "doesn’t benefit the game in any way" and the Laois native strongly added that repeat instances "will have serious implications" for those involved.
He added, "It didn’t benefit the game in any way and it doesn’t benefit the game in any way. That would be our attitude. If this continues it will have serious implications. We wouldn’t want it to go any further, certainly.
"The heart of the matter is this: We play our games to showcase the skills of hurling and Gaelic football. That’s what we want to promote, not anything else."
O'Neill's comments come in the wake of the appointment of Westmeath's Barry Kelly as the referee for this year's All-Ireland SHC final between Galway and Kilkenny.
It will be Kelly's third time to referee an All-Ireland Senior Hurling decider.
