JOHN CAULFIELD SAYS the onus is now on the Football Association of Ireland to take action following what the Cork City boss has described as “an astonishing attack” by Dundalk manager Stephen Kenny on SSE Airtricity League referees.
In an article published on Dundalk’s official website last Wednesday, Kenny bemoaned the fact that his side haven’t been awarded a penalty in the league in the last year.
The Lilywhites boss also spoke of “a massive disparity” in the number of decisions that have gone in favour of Dundalk’s main rivals Cork City, who he accused of “manufacturing penalties”.
Speaking to reporters — including the Irish Examiner’s Liam Mackey — after his side defeated Bohemians to open up a nine-point lead over Dundalk, Caulfield said: “It was an astonishing attack on referees and assistant referees and I’m sure the relevant authorities will deal with it.
“You know the stats. How many goals have we scored this season? 26 in ten games. In 2017, we’ve had one penalty. There are great guys [referees] out there, everyone is doing their best. Some days you get penalties, some days you don’t, but overall the standard is very good. Certainly, I just read it as an astonishing attack on League of Ireland referees.”
Caulfield has refused to be drawn any further on the issue, but when asked by The42 this afternoon if he would urge the FAI to act over Kenny’s comments, the City manager said: “It’s up to them [but] people will be interested to see what happens.”
After Dundalk progressed to the quarter-finals of the EA Sports Cup last night via — somewhat ironically — a penalty shootout victory over UCD, Kenny claimed Caulfield was guilty of a “personal attack” in his response to the Dundalk manager’s initial remarks.
“I didn’t criticise the officials,” he told DundalkSport.ie. “I referenced the fact that players are manufacturing penalties and that referees need to be more vigilant to it. That was the main point of it. It’s not an easy job for referees to do that and it’s difficult for them to ascertain that at times. Players are ‘creative’ in doing it, if I can use that word.
“I think his [Caulfield’s] personal attack on me is quite low. As a fellow manager you should never launch personal attacks like that and that’s disappointing.”
Updated at 16.35
