Institute boss Sean Connor compares NIFL's decision to Orwell’s famous quote, ‘All animals are equal but some are more equal than others’

Following NIFL’s decision on Tuesday that the 2019/20 season will be curtailed immediately and a mathematical formula applied to decide the final positions, it’s expected that the Waterside men’s relegation will be confirmed as early as this weekend, much to Connor’s annoyance.

“Right from the start, before any decision was made, all the clubs said three things mattered. One was sporting integrity, two was obviously the health and well being of players and three was the financial viability of whatever decision was made, ie, that no club would be punished unnecessarily,” stated the Institute manager.

“In all decisions like this, especially from governing bodies, whether it’s a decision like this or one regarding a disciplinary matter, there has to be proportionality associated with the decision.

“In other words, a decision cannot adversely affect one person over all the others and with this decision there’s no proportionality because some clubs have benefited and a number of clubs have been adversely affected, so where’s the proportionality?”

Connor hopes the powers that be at the Drumahoe club will appeal the decision if, as expected, they are relegated. He also has some major concerns about how the decision will impact his players.

“I hope they do (appeal) because with any decision there’s always a right to appeal,” insisted Connor.

“For me, it’s all about sporting integrity being adhered to. Also, was the health and well being of individuals and players taken into consideration? Was the financial viability, and well being of all members of the association, considered equally and what happened to the ‘football family’?

“It’s a bit like ‘Animal Farm’ with the famous quote: ‘All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others’.

“Another thing that concerns me is one of the big issues we are talking about in today’s world, ie, the mental health and well-being of players and I have been dealing with my players for the last two days and they don’t know where they stand in terms of contracts.

“We don’t know what our budget is going to be next year. We don’t know what league we are going to be in next year. All those sort of considerations were just thrown out the window with this decision.”

The ex-Dundalk boss questioned whether the decision would have been reached had ‘Linfield’ found themselves in a similar position at the bottom of the Premiership table.

“If this had been Warrenpoint at the bottom, the same thing would have happened but had it been Linfield at the bottom, would this have been the decision? That’s what I would like to know,” he added.

“My job now is to reinvigorate all the players and staff, to refocus everybody and to get everybody behind the club.

“Whether it’s on the Waterside or Cityside, we need people to help this football club and make sure that if we stay in the Premier Division, then we are competitive. If we have to go down, then we go down and come straight back up.

“And when we do come back up, we have to make sure we are in a position to remain in the Premier Division because it’s quite clear to me that we are unwelcome guests at the party.”

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