GAA players robbing each other to buy their drugs..

Garda ref sees 'behaviour issues' on pitch

- EOGHAN DALTON

DRUG addiction is so rampant in GAA clubs across the country that some players are stealing from their teammates, a top referee has claimed. 

Alan Kissane, who is also a Garda Inspector and a national advisor to Croke Park for football, said he has seen “behavioural issues of fellas on the field who I know personally have been taking drugs” off it.

He said: “I know because through the [Garda] job, I’ve either been present when they’ve been caught or I’ve seen they’ve been caught and I see the behaviour on the field change.”

He said there have been too many players who’ve had promising careers, only to “fritter away from the scene”, with Kissane claiming to have seen in certain cases some years later that the player has been “caught with drugs” and has wound up in court.