Cork referee John Sexton has called on GAA chiefs to take action against Kilkenny senior hurling manager Brian Cody for his criticism of Westmeath whistler Barry Kelly.

Cody described Kelly’s decision to award Tipperary an injury-time free in last month’s drawn All-Ireland final as “criminal”.

The Kilkenny boss held fire until after the replay victory to criticise Kelly, who is understood to be upset by the hard-hitting comments.

Sexton believes that Kelly’s decision to award Tipperary the late free, from which John O’Dwyer fired narrowly wide, “was a little soft”.

But he added: “Barry called it as he saw it. Mr Cody should have said nothing and went through the proper channels if he had a problem.

“He didn’t say a word until after the last game. There were incidents in that game also where Tipperary should have got some frees.

“I didn’t hear him (Cody) say anything about that. The first goal that Kilkenny got (scored by Richie Power) in my opinion should have been a free out.

“Look at what happened under the dropping ball. He (Cody) said nothing about that either.”

Sexton added that he hopes GAA officials call Cody to task after he criticised Kelly.

“I do hope the GAA take action. “That’s nothing personal (against Cody) but we have seen on TV this year several managers abuse referees and get away with it.

“Barry is one of the best referees in the last decade and will take it on the chin.

“The wheel always turns 360 degrees. If it wasn’t Barry, it would have been another ref,” he added.