National referees' administrator Pierce Freaney has dismissed claims that Cavan referee Brian Crowe has been 'punished' for refusing to upgrade an offence committed by Cork's Noel O'Leary in last year's All-Ireland SFC semi-final. The former All-Ireland final official came under pressure from the CCCC at the time to upgrade O'Leary's card from a yellow to a red following a clash with Meath's Graham Geraghty. But when asked to review the incident, Crowe held firm and O'Leary was cleared to play in the All-Ireland final. Since then, however, Crowe has been in virtual isolation with his only two assignments being the NFL Division 3 clash between Sligo and Leitrim, and the Connacht SFC semi-final between Galway and Leitrim. Crowe recently met with the national referees' chairman and chairman of the appointment committee PJ McGrath to assess where he stands and according to Freaney, the Cavan official was satisfied with that and stressed that he has not being alienated for what happened last August. "Brian sought and had a meeting with the chairman on the issue and he went away happy and in the knowledge that he hasn't been sidelined deliberately," he said. "There are other younger referees coming through and doing very well. It can be like team selection sometimes, a team evolves, so too do refereeing appointments. "There are other high-profile referees from the last few years who haven't got many games this year." Tweet

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