Waterford hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald believes that the GAA must come down hard in their response to referee abuse.

The Clare man was speaking after an alleged assault of a Wexford ref on Sunday became the latest incident of a match official being assaulted.

It follows similar recent incidents in Mayo and Roscommon where the games had to be abandoned as a result and, speaking to Sky Sports GAA, Fitzgerald says that lifetime bans for the perpetrators are the only fit punishments.

"I think if we're heavy handed in how we deal with it. They have to make one or two examples. If they have to, they have to, end of story," he said.

"The referees themselves know they're not always right and once a referee can put his hand up and say 'I deliberately did not go at any team to do them', we as managers have to accept totally that they're going to make mistakes. We have to accept that, and we have to get on with it.

"But there is no place for attacking a referee or an official, there is no place in the GAA for that. We should be above that, and we're going to have to deal with that, end of story. We're going to have to be hard-hitting."

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