The GAA is to conduct a review into the refereeing controversy that overshadowed Sunday’s Down Senior Football Final following a request by the Mourne County.
A Down statement on Thursday said that it asked GAA director general Tom Ryan to instigate the review on Tuesday.
Down secretary Sean Og McAteer said Ryan “has confirmed this will happen”.
A protracted saga in the build-up to the final led to scheduled referee Paul Faloon not taking charge of the match.
Kilcoo, who went on win Sunday’s final against Burren 2-12 to 0-9, had appealed against Faloon’s appointment for the game to the GAA’s Disputes Resolution Authority.
The Kilcoo appeal was not upheld but in the event, Faloon did not referee the county decider with Brian Higgins eventually taking the role after Meath referee David Gough had seemed set to take charge only for him to also pull out on the morning of the game.
On Monday, the Down GAA board released a lengthy statement saying that inter-county referee Faloon’s appointment “should have been respected”.
“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,” added Monday’s Down statement.
“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.”
