A Gaelic football referee allegedly assaulted by a parent at an under-12s match has said he will step back from his post after falling victim to ‘the worst behaviour’ he’s seen at a match in 30 years.

The referee – who wishes to remain anonymous – was said to have been attacked by an angry parent on Tuesday afternoon at a Cumann na mBunscoile semi-final match in north Dublin, with the assailant in question having to be held back so he couldn’t strike another blow.

The shocking incident has been reported to gardaí, and took place at a match in the primary school competition in front of more than 30 fifth- and sixth-class children. The assault led to the match being abandoned just five minutes before the final whistle and will potentially lead to the schoolchildren losing their once-in-a-lifetime chance to play in Cumann na mBunscoile finals in Croke Park on Monday.

‘Assaulting a referee is the most serious thing you can do in any sport, but particularly when the kids are 11 years of age,’ the victim of the alleged attack said.

‘I’m finished refereeing, just done, because my confidence is gone. In 30 years’ refereeing, including in front of 10,000 people at senior football and hurling finals, I have never seen something like this where a fella came up and floored me.’

The incident happened 45 minutes into a 50-minute match, after the spectator had been shouting abuse ‘from the word go... It was swearing and, “You’re a disgrace” and “Who do you think you are?” from the start and I could do nothing right in his eyes. The language was unbelievable and not at all acceptable in front of children.

‘I walked to the sideline of the pitch, and he approached me to give me a head-butt but I put my hands up and pushed him back, and then he levelled me with a punch in the face.’

The referee recalled falling to the ground in a daze and the alleged attacker being grabbed and held back by two teachers.

The ref later found out the alleged attacker was a parent of one of the players. The punch left him with significant swelling to the face and a bruised lip, as well as feeling unable to go back to refereeing.

‘I have four games this weekend but I won’t be there because I know I’ll be worrying too much. Will I blow the whistle? If I give this free will someone come onto the pitch shouting? Will I get hit again?’ he said.

‘I do fear referees are not supported enough by the GAA when they do report abuse. I have pursued this with the gardaí though, because he’s destroyed my refereeing career. You’re giving back to your community the support your community gave to you as a player, but I have noticed general abuse against refs getting worse in recent years.

‘Social media has made it ten times worse, with people I know getting death threats online over matches where people felt they made the wrong call.’

Gardaí said they were ‘alerted to an incident of assault at a sporting premises in Ballymun, Dublin 11 at approximately 1:10pm on Tuesday, October 13. Investigations are ongoing’.

A similar investigation was launched by gardaí in June after a ref at an under-15s game in Co. Clare was assaulted by a man and footage went viral on social media. A teenage player was also injured in the melee, described by the county’s GAA chairman as a ‘bitter step backwards’. In 2022, a referee at an under-17 match in Co. Roscommon was knocked unconscious by a spectator and had to be taken to hospital with neck and soft tissue injuries.

‘Clubs deal with it fairly well but it’s actually at underage levels where it’s parents shouting abuse at the referee and clubs have no control over them that it’s worse,’ the referee from Tuesday’s incident continued.

‘I’ve heard a referee being threatened one day at a pitch where a guy said he was going to “burn his f***ing house down”. The referee didn’t report that and he says to me, “What’s the point in reporting that?” And he was right. There’s no point.

‘You file a match report about it and it’s filed away in Croke Park or Parnell Park and left there. The same abuse happens next week and the week after.’

He said of the children who saw the incident: ‘Their last image now of that semi-final that would have brought them to Croke Park is the referee getting planted. I’m sure the child’s father was a very proud dad after doing that.’

The GAA and Cumann na mBunscoile were asked for comment.