Eamon Dunphy says there is no place in sport for the brawl that erupted during the hurling clash between Galway and Dublin, and that if people want to engage in that sort of behaviour they should take up Mixed Martial Arts.
The Super 11s Fenway Park Classic was meant to promote an adapted version of hurling to a new audience but will be remembered more for a dust-up that occurred in the second quarter and involved most players from both sides.
Asked about the scenes in Boston, former Millwall player Dunphy told 2fm's Game On: “If you want to do that kind of stuff, go cage-fighting.
"I never had sympathy for people who didn’t have the discipline to play a game and take what you get, take what comes without losing the head.
“Discipline and self-discipline is part of sport and it’s part of life. Indiscipline and that kind of stuff is not really what sport is about.
“Rule-breakers in sport are at odds with the spirit of sport.”
The RTÉ Soccer analyst added: “Sport is the one place in the whole of life where things are equal and it’s a level playing pitch for everybody.
“It depends on how good you are, how honest you are, how disciplined you are.
“If you bring the real world into sport – in other words, get away with whatever you can, then I don’t think that’s good for sport and I’m against it.”
