Portumna hurler Ollie Canning has criticised the Galway County Board following a controversial weekend game in which his brother and team-mate Joe required facial stitches after a stamping incident.
Joe Canning, perhaps the most promising youngster in the game, required eight stitches to his face following an incident during the first half of Sunday's heated county final against Loughrea in Salthill.
The 18-year-old was grounded after a particularly heavy challenge and then stamped on through his face-guard. He is now reportedly considering quitting hurling for rugby.
But Ollie Canning has hit out at the county board. He says a letter was sent to the board prior to the fixture highlighting what Portumna felt was the inadequate choice of match officials.
"I think that the best referee should referee the match . . . there are a number of referees in Galway that could have refereed the match," he told RTE Radio this lunch-time.
"I feel aggrieved that we highlighted these concerns and then they fell on deaf ears or were completely ignored. What we feared actually happened on the day."
Canning refused to say whether his brother was deliberately singled out by opposing players but said when you're as prolific a scorer as his sibling he would always merit "special attention".
Joe Canning played on into the second half but he himself received a yellow card for an entirely separate incident.
At this point, and also after the match ended, Canning was said to become extremely disillusioned with the sport.
"He feels let down and very disheartened," Ollie Canning said of his brother. "He'll take a few weeks off and will make the right decision for himself."
The Galway Hurling board has launched an investigation into the incident and will review video evidence as well as the referee's report before deciding what course of action, if any, to take.