GAA president Larry McCarthy has blasted the “overly harsh, unfair, and downright cowardly” criticism aimed at players in the wake of All-Ireland finals defeats.
McCarthy didn’t specifically refer to Mayo, who lost the recent All-Ireland football final to Tyrone.
But it appears the Cork native was referring to pundit Joe Brolly, among others, and the criticism of Mayo’s Aidan O’Shea.
Derry All-Ireland winner Brolly called O’Shea “a projected captain who does not lead and never will”, and called Mayo “time wasters.”
In the past Brolly has labelled Mayo “celebrity losers”.
McCarthy’s statement comes after Mayo GAA released their own statement, hitting out at “unnecessary and unacceptable” personal attacks on their team and management.
Former Mayo player John Casey labeled the online abuse of players and managers as “absolutely disgraceful to the highest degree.”
McCarthy said: “Words matter. What one says matters. What one puts in the public domain matters.
“This was a point I made at Congress in February 2021 in the context of, what Bob Costas (American sportscaster) calls, a corrosive asault on civility.
“That corrosive assault has been perpetuated recently by members of the ‘critics collective’ and by many people who term themselves supporters in their reaction to the All-Ireland football final.
“The criticism emanating from these people has been overly harsh, unfair and in some cases, cowardly.
“It has gone well beyond fair analysis. Critical evaluation of match performance is fine, and expected, but overly harsh scrutiny of amateur players is unjustifiable.”
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