Davy Fitzgerald will serve his eight-week suspension it has been confirmed, though the Wexford County Board still argue that the punishment is ‘harsh’.
The Yellow Bellies manager was hit with the ban after he confronted referee Diarmuid Kirwan and several Tipperary players during the recent Allianz League Division 1 semi-final defeat to Tipp.
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It was expected that he would seek a hearing from Croke Park in the hope of having the ban reduced, but in a statement released yesterday Wexford say he will do the time ‘in the broader interests of the game’.
"The county board, and all Wexford GAA supporters, are fully supportive of Davy Fitzgerald as our senior hurling manager," they said.
"Wexford people fully understand that Davy brings 100 per cent commitment and a real passion to his coaching and it is this which makes him such an outstanding manager.
"We are very proud of the tremendous work he and his backroom team have put into the senior hurling squad. That work is already bearing fruit with promotion to Division 1A achieved and a real spring in the step of all GAA followers in the county.
"It is considered that the penalty imposed for Davy’s pitch encroachment is harsh and that arguments could be made for a lessening of the penalty. Indeed, it is not unknown for other similar penalties to have been nullified after appeals and legal processes," continued the statement.
"However, this decision has been reached after detailed discussion with Davy and is being taken in the broader interests of the game and of the senior hurling team.
"In accepting the penalty, the focus of attention can now turn elsewhere and the GAA family in Wexford can return to strengthening our games and our teams."
Fizgerald will now have to sit in the stands for Wexford’s Leinster quarter-final against a qualifier from the round robin group on May 27 and, if they win that, the provincial semi-final clash with Kilkenny on June 10.
The Clare All-Ireland winning goalkeeper and manager stormed onto the Nowlan Park field in the League semi-final on Sunday, April 16 to remonstrate with Kirwan.
Several Tipperary players then became involved, with Jason Forde still facing a two-game suspension for his part in the flash-point incident.
Kirwan took no action against Fitzgerald or Forde at the time and the GAA’s Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) handed down the bans after reviewing footage of the event.
Tipperary lost the League final to Galway last Sunday.
