SEMPLE STADIUM CONTROVERSY: THE GAA have no intention of revising their policy of referee pitch inspections despite the late postponement on Tuesday of the Tipperary-Kilkenny match in the National Hurling League for the second time in four nights.

If it is a case of third time lucky, then the game will go on ahead on Sunday week, March 7th, back at Semple Stadium in Thurles – and the GAA have indicated that admission will once again be free, although this still has to be formally signed off by Croke Park.

According to Mick Curley, the chairman of the national referees committee, the situation in Thurles on Tuesday night was “most unusual”, but that the decision of match referee Barry Kelly of Westmeath to call off the game just 30 minutes prior to throw-in was entirely justified.

All referees have the final say in whether a game goes ahead, and their first concern is the safety of the players.

“In any situation like that, where the playing surface was such, the priority has to be the safety of the players,” said Curley, a former All-Ireland referee.

“The referee has to ensure they won’t slip, or fall, without even being tackled, which can do a lot of damage. Even ligament or muscle damage. That’s the main priority for the referee in making these calls, and if he decides the pitch is not up to standard, then he has the right to make the decision not to let the game go ahead.

“For the Thurles pitch to be hit twice like that, in quick succession, is most unusual. There were just exceptional circumstances, and I don’t think that has ever happened before, to the best of my knowledge.

“We can appreciate there was a lot of inconvenience for the people coming to Thurles both nights. But I think, in the first instance, the snow started so suddenly and was so heavy, nobody expected it.

“On Tuesday night the conditions were forecast to improve, but ultimately it is the referee’s call. Regardless of what anyone else might say, if he decides the playing surface is not up to scratch, and the players’ safety comes into question, then he makes the call.

“There’s no reason to change that system. We’ve even seen some Premiership games called off very close to start times as well. I think player safety is always the best criteria.”

Part of the frustration for the supporters who did make the trip to Thurles, on either one or both nights, was that the decision to call off the game was made so late. Curley again defended this practice, as there is no such thing as the right or wrong time to call off a game – and that in some cases it simply can’t be made any sooner than shortly before throw-in.

“In situations where you have two or three days of rain, or even heavy rain on the morning of the game, the referee can go to a pitch, check the weather forecast, and make a decision well in advance.

“That has happened quite often, games called off four or five hours in advance of the throw-in.”

Curley also defended the situation whereby referees may only arrive at the grounds an hour or two in advance – saying there is usually some contact with the grounds if there are concerns about the state of the pitch.

“In many cases, referees travel well in advance. In my own days, if I was refereeing a game at 3pm, in Killarney, I’d be gone from the house at 8am in the morning.

“It’s an ad hoc kind of arrangement, but if, say, Barry was coming to Galway, he’d ring to inquire about the pitch, and whether it was playable at that moment. He’d be advised about the situation then, so there is always some communication.”

In the aftermath of Tuesday’s game, Kilkenny County Board chairman Paul Kinsella questioned the sense of fixing hurling matches under lights, particularly in midweek, and Sunday afternoon fixtures would always be preferable.

But it seems the evening throw-in had nothing to do with it, and that even if those conditions had arisen in daylight, the game would still have been called off.

“Once there’s snow on the surface,” said Curley, “then for a hurling match, with the small white ball, there’s no way you can play. And the snow was actually staying on the surface. If it was a soccer game they could use a yellow ball. But even a small yellow ball is no good. So you can’t blame it on floodlights.”

Kelly has said the main reasoning behind his decision to call off the game was player safety, but he also had concerns about visibility.

“We got criticised last Saturday for waiting too long, but now the criticism is that we went too early. It’s one of those things. But the main thing is that the health and safety of the 30 players was not compromised.”

A statement from the Tipperary County Board has also expressed regret at any inconvenience caused to supporters, but agreed it was in the interest of the players.

“The pitch was inspected on an hourly basis from 11am and was playable at all times throughout the day. The weather forecast, and updates to it, were monitored but did not indicate any prolonged snowfalls or frost for the Thurles area.

“It would have been far more preferable if it had been possible to announce the postponement earlier so as to avoid inconvenience to supporters of both counties travelling to the match. Unfortunately, weather conditions deteriorated late on and the decision could not have been taken any sooner.”

Setanta count cost of postponement and face scheduling problems

SETANTA SPORTS have been left counting the cost of the latest postponement of the Tipperary-Kilkenny clash in the Allianz Hurling League – and in more ways than one.

Having twice had their live TV crews in place, only for the game to be called-off, they are now unsure whether they’ll be able to broadcast the third re-fixture, back in Thurles on Sunday, March 7th, at 2.30pm.

Already scheduled for the same afternoon are two live Magners League fixtures (Cardiff Blues against Leinster, and Edinburgh against Ospreys) and also two live FA Cup fixtures. There is also a TV rights issue to be sorted, as under current arrangements, Setanta only have the rights to the Saturday evening league floodlight fixtures – whereas TG4 have the rights to the Sunday afternoon league fixtures.

“We are still quite keen to cover it live, but we just have to see can we put our resources back into it again,” said Brian Quinn, of Setanta.

“It is a significant undertaking, financially, to arrange the live coverage. At the same time we understand that the weather sometimes has a say in these things. It’s one of those occupational hazards. The same thing happened in the Magners League at the start of January.”

The weekend of March 7th is the next free slot in the hurling league – although there is still some conflict with the Fitzgibbon Cup, hosted by NUI Galway, with the semi-finals and final taking place on the Friday and Saturday of the same weekend, and which is set to feature several Tipperary and Kilkenny players.