Emmet Moloney writes for the 'The Irish Farmers Journal' and is a former sports columnist with 'The Kerryman'.

They say the camera never lies. Well, live microphones don’t either. Emmet Moloney wants a bit of perspective...

It seems most of the country is talking about the unseemly language Davy Fitzgerald used on the sideline in Thurles on Sunday last. Thanks to RTÉ’s judicious placing of microphones and the fact that the volume was actually on, we got to hear the referee harangued by the Waterford manager following a very minor incident yards away.

Most of the comments I’ve heard related to the bad language used by Fitzgerald. What I cannot understand is the surprise in people’s voices when they refer to the swearing. Have they never been to a match before? This is not for one second defending Davy’s language, merely pointing out the misplaced shock.

I travel to at least one or two matches a week, sometimes many more. This type of language is commonplace and the pointed comments aimed at referees is even more prevalent. Let’s not kid ourselves here: foul language is an epidemic surrounding nearly all of our games and officials today are lacerated by players, managers and, in particular, crowds at matches. So RTÉ snare Davy Fitz and all of a sudden he gets the lash? A little unfair.

Is this a problem? Of course it is, but it’s a wider problem in the sporting culture of this country and one that is seeping into every outdoor event. When we see kids effing and blinding at referees and arguing every single decision at underage matches, we tut-tut and in our own heads we blame the parents. That’s always the easy way. Truth is, we are all to blame.

Sit yourself in Tullamore or the Gaelic Grounds this weekend and you will be treated to swearing all through your afternoon. A Clare hurler (I hope) will be going through on goal and a Tipp man might literally decapitate him for the most obvious free in the history of the GAA but, mark my words, the Tipp man beside you will jump up and say: “For f*** sake, ref. He never f****** touched him.” The Clareman beside him might tell him to: “Sit down and shut the f*** up.”

People around them will throw in their comments, children will get nervous. Five minutes later, Lar Corbett will be ambushed by two or three Clare backs who take him high, low and in between for the second most obvious foul in GAA history and our Clare friend will be up a in a shot: “F*** sake, ref. It should be a f****** free the other way.” And then history will repeat itself.

That’s an exchange that happens a thousand times a week up and down the country. The blinkers get a great wearing once the championship comes along. We’re seriously losing the run of ourselves at matches and it’s no good RTÉ picking on Davy – and in truth that’s what they have done. We have to pick on ourselves.

I’m not really casting stones. I can swear with the best of them, but now and again I bring my nine-year-old daughter to matches and Eleanor is quick on the uptake: “That man said a bad word, daddy,” is the whisper I get in my ear. And she’s right. So daddy has reined himself in. Even when not with Eleanor at matches, I have to try to pretend she’s beside me, taking down every word to use against me for when we stop in the shop on the way home and someone who doesn’t swear wants an ice cream!

What’s the point anyway in swearing at the referee? We’re all human. How would you feel as a referee if someone spent 70 minutes effing at you throughout a match? You wouldn’t look too kindly on that person, would you? Of course not. In fact, if later in the match that same player is on the edge of a 50-50 decision, I’d like to see the stats on that decision. Does it go with the player who has abused the referee for the day? What do you think?
Regardless, players, managers and supporters continue to shower refs with their biased and foul-mouthed opinions. Is it because it makes them feel better to let off some steam? Probably, to some extent, but that doesn’t reach close to a valid excuse.

Abusing officials, swearing like a trooper at matches is just plain wrong. How do we stop it? Should we highlight it? Should Davy be given the GAA equivalent of community service and visit every school in the country with his no-swearing message?

This is not a GAA issue. This is a people issue. It’s about respect and if we started with referees, we’d be some way down the road.

Soccer is where we should look for an example of what could be coming down the road. This is a game where a throw-in decision is hotly contested by thousands of foul-mouthed “fans”, for whom blinkers are a birthright.

Do we want to continue down the road where thousands of aggressive young men start chanting swear words in unison at 50-50 decisions in our games? (The throw-in, by the way, usually results in the other team getting the ball back seconds later. By the time you have the last **** out of your mouth, your team already has the ball back. It is bizarre and very disconcerting. It is also among us.)

Until we take back the respect due to a referee and his officials, this will get worse. It’s no good picking out Davy Fitz; they’re all at it, some worse than others. We’ll end up like soccer: every time a team loses, the referee is to blame. Look at Donal O’Grady’s magnanimity in defeat on Sunday. It is a rare and welcome exception to the rule.

So, what’s the solution to this? How can we nip it in the bud? Simple. Ban the players and managers for any abusive word or action to a referee. And I mean ban them. Immediate red cards for acting the loutish fool. And bans that mean something. Months at a time. We should also put a microphone on the referees so the players and managers can be heard all the time, making a fool of themselves. That would stop it fairly lively. And let’s police ourselves in the stands and in the terraces. Isolate the yob and let him know we’re not putting up with that carry-on.

Until we take action like this, then we’ll procrastinate on the highest moral patch we can find. And it will continue and it will get worse.

By the way, in the politest of language, Anthony Daly’s Dublin will get the better of Galway this Saturday night and Clare will frighten Tipperary on Sunday. For a while at least.

I swear it. To catch Emmet's latest column, get 'The Irish Farmers' Journal' every Thursday...