THE assessment of damages against the Football Association of Ireland, held to have wrongfully downgraded two League of Ireland soccer referees, was adjourned in the Circuit Civil Court yesterday.
Judge Cyril Kelly said the decision to demote Mr Michael Tomney and Mr Tommy Traynor to run of the mill match referees was invalid. He will assess damages later.
He had been told by Mr David Nolan, counsel for the FAI, that his order would have serious repercussions as there were 170 cases of other referees who had failed tests waiting in the wings.
Mr Tomney had failed a physical fitness test, while Mr Traynor had been downgraded on the results of the written section of the two part examination.
Judge Kelly heard that prior to the June 1995 examination, Mr Traynor, who suffered a reading disability, had been allowed to have the examiner explain any problem he might have with a question so that he could then go on to answer it himself.
In Mr Tomney's case he had decided to undergo the physical test even though he had not been feeling fully fit. Both men believed they should have been given a second chance to sit the tests.
Their request had been turned down and they had sought, through the court, their reinstatement to the League of Ireland panel of referees and an opportunity to resit the tests.
Judge Kelly ruled that the decision to demote or re grade Mr Traynor and Mr Tomney was outside the rules of the FAI and invalid both in the manner and at the time at which it was done.