The chairman of the Galway FA has said he fears that increasing tensions on football sidelines and a rise in the number of racist incidents is going to lead to a serious pitchside assault in the city or county.
“I'm beyond slightly concerned, I'm getting to a stage now where I'm fairly sure we are going to have a major incident at a match. I feel there is going to be a serious assault or someone is going to get very seriously injured,” said Tom Trill, chairman of the Galway Football Association this week.
Speaking on the Galway Advertiser's Cian On Sport podcast, Mr Trill said there have been some worrying trends on behaviour that he has noticed at local fixtures since the junior and juvenile season commenced in September.
The Galway FA has dealt with a number of issues in recent weeks, while an underage Irish Cup encounter is also being investigated by the FAI.
"“Two parents got physical, the FAI are dealing directly with that, it was their competition,” Mr Trill added.
“This was an underage match, it is not just in the city, all over the county it is happening. We have to tackle this head on. This messing going on has to stop fairly lively.”
He is also concerned that racist language is being used during games. “We are starting now to see an escalation in reports of racism and discrimination,” he adds.
“That is another hard pill to swallow, to think that kind of behaviour is going on in this day and age when it has been highlighted so much. We have to give education guidelines to clubs and the people involved, to help them understand how they can report it.”
Any allegations of racism will be investigated by the Galway FA,according to Mr Trill. “A lot of people are saying to me if the referee cannot hear it or see it that it cannot be dealt with,” he says.
“That rhetoric has changed and I need to be clear with people on that. The FAI rules clearly state the disciplinary committee should consider all evidence that is deemed relevant to the case. It means now when people report incidents we can investigate them. Myself and two members of the committee had a sub committee set up dealing with one allegation of racism.
Regarding the latest incident, he said it has taken "six weeks to investigate the problem, but we are not giving up on it. We will keep going until we talk to everyone that was a witness on the day to find out what happened, to come up with a solution to this problem. It is going to be dealt with.
“All of our clubs have an inclusive environment within them. Any club you go to, you see such a blend of cultures and backgrounds. No matter where you go in the county, it is there, we are just having these stupid problems," he said.
**Listen to the full interview with Galway FA chairman Tom Trill on this week’s ‘Cian On Sport’ podcast available on Soundcloud, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
