Will the whistleblowers down tools over tax on referees?

Date Published: {J}

Last Saturday morning on the way to an U12 soccer match in Oranmore, I bumped into the referee who wondered if I was with the visiting team or could I at least get a message to the relevant manager to insist the match started at 12.30pm on the button.

I presumed he was in a hurry home to see as much as he could of the Ireland/Italy rugby match, but I underestimated his dedication. “I have to be in Kilcolgan to ref another match at two,” he explained.

And not for the first time, I marvelled at the dedication of a breed of men and women who play such a key role in facilitating sport for all – and more often than not, they do it in the face of more abuse than applause.

Without referees, quite simply there would be no sport – even if the taxman appears to be determined to put that to the test by bidding to solve our entire economic depression by making sure the men and women in black don’t participate in the black economy.

Specifically in this instance, it’s about the GAA referees – but the dedication shown by these men and women in the middle is consistent across all sports and codes. And despite what the Revenue Commissioners seem to think, they most definitely aren’t in it for the money.

So while the developers in NAMA continue to draw six figure salaries to run the companies they have already made a pig’s ear out of, referees – people who have given much more than they ever could have taken – will be nailed to the wall if they make more than €13.71 a match.

Of course they also get a mileage allowance of 50 cent a mile, but with the cost of petrol or diesel these days, you’d still hardly be buying a French villa from the proceeds.

Perhaps they could claim expenses for washing machine tablets to get the muck off their gear or polish for their boots – not to mention pencils and yellow cards for writing down the names of players who cross the line.

Some of them might be able to reclaim the cost of the counselling they need after being abused by parents or irate officials – certainly those working in Wicklow could lob in a claim for a blanket in the boot of their car for those days they have to take refuge from the marauding hoards.

Personally, I wouldn’t put up with the abuse they take for the six figure salary of our NAMA-fied developer, but to suggest they should do it for something around the price of three pints is utterly ridiculous.

 Little wonder that Longford GAA referees have gone on strike, and that their counterparts in Wexford aren’t far behind them.

As it stands referees in Wexford get €50 for a senior game and €30 for an underage fixture. Longford referees were getting €40 per senior game – but that covered everything mileage, petrol and wear and tear of the car.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.