Wexford GAA hand down 96-week ban following assault on referee

Wexford GAA have handed down the maximum 96-week suspension on the club mentor involved in an assault on referee Michael Lannigan and an umpire following a Junior A club football championship game.

The incident took place at the end of the match between St Joseph's and Our Lady's Island on 25 September, with the St Joseph's mentor Glen McManus also receiving a ban from attending games on his home pitch at Whiterock Hill. The investigation carried out by the Wexford Central Competitions Control Committee also fined the club €1,000.

In an initiative by clubs in the county to address the lack of respect towards officials, Wexford chairman Micheál Martin told RTÉ Sport: "We had 100% of clubs conduct workshops within ten days of the incident and got tremendous two way proposals for the improvement of respect within our games.

"We will also be announcing next week the roll out of a research project with a senior research fellow from UCD next week which we will fund."

In what was another incident for Wexford GAA to deal with, a Naomh Éanna mentor also received 96-week ban for an assault on referee Jimmy Heaney at the end of their Junior B hurling championship game with Na Fianna Clonard.