WATERFORD BOSS DAVY FITZGERALD and Clare selector Tommy Corbett have been handed four-week suspensions.
Following the meeting of Clare and Waterford in the Munster SHC fourth round in Cusack Park a fortnight ago, Sixmilebridge’s Fitzgerald approached the referee Liam Gordon where he seemed irate over a 65 which was converted by Mark Rodgers and where it was taken from.
His conduct towards the referee has resulted in the handing down of a four week ban. The proposed penalty comes under Rule 7.2 (c), category 11a which covers abusive language towards a match official or disruptive conduct. In September 2022, the All-Ireland winning player and manager spoke on The Late Late Show and said a lifetime ban should be issued to anyone who physically abuses a referee.
A similar suspension has also been recommended for Tommy Corbett who pushed Fitzgerald after he had spoken with the Galway official.
There is no ban proposed for Cratloe’s James Hickey who pushed away an RTÉ camera during the incident or Waterford selector Peter Queally.
Fitzgerald has said he was not questioning the legitimacy of the 65 but instead arguing over the amount of steps taken by Rodgers when scoring Clare’s second goal.
Members of the Central Competitions Control Committee concluded that suspensions were merited for both Fitzgerald and Corbett. The ban was not in place for Clare’s win over Tipperary but unless appealed successfully, it would mean Corbett cannot be on the sideline for the Munster final while in the case of Davy any suspension would be enforced in 2025 seeing as the Déise are eliminated from the championship
