Referee's word final, says judge

A football team furious over a refereeing decision which led to their exit from the FAI Junior Cup lost a High Court bid yesterday…

A football team furious over a refereeing decision which led to their exit from the FAI Junior Cup lost a High Court bid yesterday to prevent the tournament from progressing.

Mr Justice Barr said he had sympathy for the position of Carew Park Amateur Football Club which lost a fourth round cup fixture against Mungret Regional AFC by one goal to nil in Limerick on January 31st last. However, football clubs had to accept that the decision of a referee, whether right or wrong, unless he did "something appalling", was sacrosanct. The alternative was "a hopeless degree of anarchy". "You just have to grin and bear it." He made no order for costs in light of the "vacillation" by the referee during the disputed soccer match.