James Owens will take charge of the All-Ireland senior hurling final for the second successive year.
It will be the third time that the Wexford man has been in the middle for the game’s showpiece having also refereed the Kilkenny-Galway final in 2015, as well as Limerick-Galway last year.
After the controversy surrounding refereeing in both semi-finals, the GAA was always likely to opt for an experienced match official for the Kilkenny-Tipperary decider and Owens certainly fits the bill in that respect.
The Askamore clubman’s previous assignments in this year’s Championship were the Clare-Limerick and Waterford-Clare Munster Championship ties as well as the Kilkenny-Cork All-Ireland quarter-final.
His umpires on the day will be James Dunbar and David Owens (both Askamore), Joe Kelly (Naomh Éanna) and Ian Plunkett (Marshalstown).
Carlow’s Paud O’Dwyer will be the standby referee. The other linesman is Johnny Murphy (Limerick) and the sideline official will be Liam Gordon (Galway).
Meanwhile, Patrick Murphy of Carlow has been appointed to referee the minor final between Galway and Kilkenny.
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