By John Harrington

GAA Referees have been instructed to crack down on some specific infractions in this year’s All-Ireland Football and Hurling Championships.

Top of the list are head-high tackles, melees, footballers who don’t wear mouth-guards, and holding-type infractions in hurling.

National Referees Development Chairman, Willie Barrett, says these sorts of infractions regularly cropped up when his committee conducted a review of the Allianz Football and Hurling Leagues.

After that review, inter-county referees were brought together and shown video clips of such incidents and instructed on how to deal with them should they arise in the football and hurling championships this summer.

Barrett admits that the increase in head-high tackles and collisions in both codes during the Allianz League this year was particularly concerning because of the danger of players potentially suffering concussion or other serious injuries.

"It's not something we want,” says the National Referees Development Chairman.

“Our aim is to prevent such concussions from happening and to make players fully aware of non-acceptance of those type of fouls.

“In other sports there is a lot of physical head contact but we believe in our games it's not necessary.

“You are always going to have players fighting for the ball and accidental hits, collisions, or whatever. But where there is a deliberate (contact) going in to tackle a player at head high level, above the chin, that's a no-go area for us.

“If they're on the shoulder or chest-high, then it's a yellow-card. But where they're head-high, hit into the face, it's a red-card.”

Barrett believes one of the most challenging situations for a referee to deal with is a melee – when an initial altercation between two players is then exacerbated by a number of other players also becoming involved.

In order to discourage other players pouring petrol on a flame in this manner, referees have been instructed to red-card to players who instigate such melees.

“We've seen a number of games where a melee has occurred and we've asked our referees to deal with it very strongly,” said Barrett.

“Where there are two players involved, it's fine, the referee can deal with it. But where more players come in and add to that...it then becomes a melee. What's a melee? Making a bad situation worse.

“So, we feel that we need to deal with that and we've given clear instruction to referees that red cards must be issued in those situations where players are coming in and you're eventually seeing five or six or seven players involved.

“We would be particularly honing in on the first and second person in to the melee, shall we say, after two players have initially been involved. We believe that's causing other players to come in."

Barrett, who himself refereed two All-Ireland Hurling Finals in 1994 and 2000, says hurling referees have also been instructed to crack down on the frequency of holding and pulling offences in hurling.

So, in those situations, unless there is a clear goal chance possible, the referee will blow for the free and note the player who has committed the foul rather than play advantage.

“We talked about this quite a bit with our referees in that the player is going with the ball and he's being challenged and he's been held by the (opposition) player.

“The instinct simply for a hurler to put out his hand and hold him. That's a foul.

“The emphasis should be two hands on the hurley. In a tackle situation holding the spare hand as we call it is certainly causing a problem we believe.

“Our encouragement to referees is that he penalises the first foul. Whilst the advantage is great and certainly was applied very well during the hurling league in many cases, in some cases it might just be as well to keep the free puck and note the player and try to get away from the holding.

“Our belief would be with the free-takers on view today, we've one on every team that can point the ball from 90 or up to 100 metres in some cases.

“If there's a goal situation on we believe, yes, the advantage can be allowed, but where there’s not a clear advantage we believe that the best course of action is to give the free and let the free-taker put it over the bar.”

Football referees have also been instructed to rigorously apply the mouth-guard rule which obliges a referee to yellow-card a player not wearing one, and red-card him if he persists.

“There are quite a few players still not wearing mouth-guards,” said Barrett. “We want to ensure in the interests of safety that players are wearing their mouth-guards.

“We think it is very important. Wearing a mouth-guard is wearing it in a mouth, not in a stocking.”

Barrett believes that good progress has been made in a couple of key disciplinary areas in recent times.

He’s satisfied that there is now greater adherence to the rule relating to the interference with hurling helmets and also believes that the black-card is being utilised more judiciously by referees.

“It (the black card) took a while to bed down,” said Barrett. “There was teething problems. I think we’re in a better place now. We have less discussion of the black card.

“I believe it’s certainly doing its job in football. There is a greater acceptance of the black card by players in particular when it is issued.

“You don’t see as many asking questions as we used to. I think referees are getting it very right in the black card situation. That’s something we’re happy about.”

Making an immediate and correct decision on incidents that occur a high speed and without the benefit of a replay is obviously the most difficult part of being a GAA referee, especially at the highest level.

Hawkeye has been a useful tool for umpires since it was introduced to Croke Park in 2013, and Barrett hasn’t ruled out the possibility that in the future GAA referees might also be able to call on other video technology to help them decide on marginal calls.

"There are so many things happening in the GAA at the moment with the new championship,” said Barrett.

“We have had changes in hurling and football and to be fair to the GAA we've had Hawkeye brought in, black cards, extra official for sideline duty. Many changes have taken place.

"I'm sure that's something that will be looked at in the future. How soon I couldn't answer but it's probably something that will be looked at. I don't know where we would start but there is always a starting point.”