FORMER DONEGAL STAR Brendan Devenney didn’t mince his words on the sledging issue last night.
The classy forward told Newstalk that the current blight on Gaelic Football has “turned his stomach” after Donegal minor boss Declan Bonner revealed that one of his players was subjected to the most vile form of verbal abuse last weekend.
1992 All-Ireland winner Bonner told the Donegal News that his captain Micheál Carroll was taunted over the death of his father during last Sunday’s championship clash with Tyrone, a county already in the spotlight following the tempestuous senior clash with Donegal.
Bonner admitted that he is considering turning his back on the game due to the “toxic” nature of sledging in the game.
He levelled a serious allegation at Tyrone, claiming that two Tyrone players goaded 17-year-old Carroll about the death of his father Francie, who passed away in February of last year.
And Devenney told the Off The Ball team on Newstalk: ”(Sledging) is festering away and something needs to be done.
I heard about it on Sunday evening and it turned my stomach and there were a couple of people close to the action that heard it.
“We’re going down the road of are we allowing this scum element and scum talk?
“There’s a big difference between a bit of banter and slagging and there’s definitely levels of sledging where you give it and take it a bit.
“But now we’re getting to a phase where people are just in people’s ears and properly doing research and goading them.
“I mean, how do these lads even know this information? That’s what kind of scares me.”
Devenney believes that Donegal, Armagh, Tyrone and Monaghan are the worst offenders and urged referees to stamp out the problem by dishing out black cards.
In the aftermath of Tipperary’s EirGrid All-Ireland U21 final defeat to Tyrone, members of the Premier County camp were left deeply unhappy by some of the off-the-ball antics employed by their opponents, another clear indication that sledging is rampant at all levels.
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