The Minister for Sport has halted funding for all artificial turf pitches in the League of Ireland after a new pitch in Co Louth was damaged immediately following its opening, reports Breaking News.
Flares were thrown onto the brand-new astro turf at Oriel Park in Dundalk by Drogheda fans during a match between the two Co Louth sides on Friday, reports Breaking News.
Patrick O’Donovan, who attended the game, said he plans to meet with representatives of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) and the League of Ireland this week to discuss the incident.
He also said he has requested a meeting with the Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, to explore measures to prevent such behaviour at soccer matches, including reviewing UK legislation, reports Breaking News.
O’Donovan noted that €500,000 had been allocated for the upgrades to Oriel Park, which were destroyed “less than 20 minutes from the formal opening ceremony.”
“The field looked like it was pock-ridden with badger holes at the end of the match the other night, and all these lads think it’s hilarious,” he told RTE Radio, reports Breaking News.
He described the incident as “a disgrace,” “thuggery,” and said it saw “taxpayers’ money literally going up in smoke.”
“We’re not going to be doing this a second time, to be quite honest about it,” he said, adding that his department would not fund repairs, reports Breaking News.
“I’ve asked the Department to pause all astro turf investments into League of Ireland clubs until I get what I say is a sufficient response from the FAI and the League of Ireland, not only to protect our investment but to protect innocent patrons as well.
“Unfortunately, now, it is a plague on all their houses,” he added, reports Breaking News.
He urged locals and football fans to provide any information they have about the culprits to the gardaí.
He said he expects football authorities to give assurances that the offenders will be identified, face lifetime bans, or possibly be prosecuted, reports Breaking News.
O’Donovan warned that if authorities fail to act, he would consider legislation to tackle the problem.
“They had this scenario in England a number of years ago where they had to separate football hooligans from each other to protect ordinary decent patrons who just want to go see a match,” he said, reports Breaking News.
“If we have to make it a criminal offence, we’ll do that,” he added.
He stressed: “If a woman’s hair had been set on fire and she was burnt within an inch of her life we’d have a different conversation this morning. This has to be stopped. And the only way this can be stopped is if the soccer authorities in Ireland stamp it out, literally,” reports Breaking News.
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