Top referee Sean Hurson reckons many people find it easy to dehumanise match officials.

Hurson, who refereed this year’s All-Ireland SFC final, was speaking at the launch of the national Respect the Referee Day which takes place this weekend and comes after incidents of alleged assaults in recent weeks.

“I think it’s a case of trying to establish what the role of the referee is within the association but also at grass roots level so we can turn around and be a valued member and contribute to what is a fantastic sport but also that we are part of it and we are volunteers,” the Tyrone man is quoted saying by GAA.ie.

“We’re human and we have families. People forget that and see the man in the black jersey as someone who has nothing to do with the association. So it’s about ‘we all belong’ and that’s what our perspective is. We want everyone to reset and evaluate what the role of the referee is within the association.

“This last number of weeks or months there has been a high number of incidents and while the committee has been doing work in the background, it has become of national interest that this is not good enough and now is the time to change it and for some supporters to re-focus on how they conduct themselves at games and coaches as well.

“I think today’s initiative actually allows people to say, ‘maybe I need to change the way I do things'. Maybe instead of being part of an association where we all belong, we are actually alienating elements within the association. At the moment referees are the focus and it gets forgotten that referees are all club people.

“I’m heavily involved with my own club. I’m on the committee and a coach. We all are volunteers because we enjoy it and we love it.”

 

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