Down SFC final: 'Faloon appointment should have been respected' - Down GAA
- Published
Kilcoo appealed against the appointment of Paul Faloon
Down GAA have said that the appointment of Paul Faloon as referee for the county's senior football final between Kilcoo and Burren at Pairc Esler on Sunday "should have been respected".
Kilcoo won a fifth straight Down title by beating Burren 2-12 to 0-9 after appealing against the appointment.
Kilcoo failed in their appeal to the Dispute Resolutions Authority (DRA) but eventually Brian Higgins took charge.
Down GAA called it "an extremely frustrating episode".
Despite Kilcoo's appeal being rejected on Saturday morning, Faloon was set to be replaced by Meath official David Gough but he later withdrew, leading to concerns that the game would be delayed.
Higgins stepped in to referee in Newry.
In a statement released on Monday, Down GAA indicated their wholehearted support for Faloon, whose appointment had been confirmed early last week, describing him as "an intercounty championship match official of considerable standing, an appropriate appointment".
"An appeal against this appointment was pursued by the Kilcoo club, on the grounds of perceived bias. We regarded this as entirely baseless and were determined to fight for the integrity of the referee and the appointment.
"A hearing took place on Thursday evening last (heard by the Down Hearings Committee) and the appeal was rejected," they explained.
"Kilcoo then lodged a claim with the DRA in Croke Park (the GAA's highest resolution body), requesting interim relief on the matter and proposing, as a possible remedy, postponement of the game for a week if the application were to be successful.
"The DRA claim was heard on Saturday morning and the case put forward by Kilcoo was rejected. This was an entirely satisfactory ruling as it allowed the referee appointment to stand, and we communicated it to Paul.
"We were steadfast in our support of the appointment of Paul Faloon. Not even the notion of postponement would deter us from the clear opinion that everyone should respect his appointment."
Watch: Kilcoo defeat Burren to win fifth straight Down title
The Down statement went on to explain that further turns of events later on Saturday "left them with the prospect that there may be no referee for this fixture, and as a result, had no option but to appoint an alternative official to referee the game".
"Having deemed it unfair in these circumstances to ask another internal referee to take charge of the fixture, we then asked David Gough and he accepted.
"At 11.30am on Sunday, David advised us that he would be withdrawing, and we respected his decision. Brian Higgins then accepted the appointment as referee."
"Whilst the final took place and we are very grateful to all of yesterday's match officials, this was an extremely frustrating episode.
"As an Association, we are constantly hearing and stating about the need to respect our match officials.
"The appointment of Paul Faloon should have been respected and it is disappointing that this was challenged in the way it was.
"There should be no right of appeal against the appointment of a referee.
"We will examine this episode and consider what needs to be put in place to ensure that this never happens again."