Counties urged not to flout 'blood rule' as penalty is debated

CLARIFICATION of the penalty for infringing the 'blood rule' is unlikely to be given before the next meeting of the Central Council in September but counties are being warned that any blatant disregard for the rule in the meantime will not be tolerated.

Both the Munster Council and the Games Administration Committee are actively seeking to have the matter cleared up to their mutual satisfaction.

However, said GAC chairman Padraig Duffy, “We would still be saying to counties that the 20-player limit still applies.’’ Mr Duffy made it clear it will be up to counties and not referees to ensure the regulation is adhered to.

“Cork admitted to inadvertently playing 21 players,” he said. “But it was a mistake, not deliberate.’’

The GAC took a policy decision at its midweek meeting to formally communicate its views to the Central Council. That has already been done by the Munster Council.

The next move will be up to the GAA leadership. The expectation is that the matter will be discussed by the Management Committee and that an amendment to the blood rule will be put to the Central Council membership at the next meeting.

While it was predictable that Kildare, through county secretary Richie Whelan, would express annoyance that they were penalised for playing six substitutes (two blood substitutes and four ordinary substitutes) in their drawn League game with Sligo, it’s clear that Cork had their homework done when they went into Tuesday night’s meeting in Adare.

County secretary Frank Murphy, an acknowledged expert on the rules (and chairman of the Rules Revision Committee which condensed the playing rules a few years ago), successfully argued the case that there was no penalty stipulated for an infringement of the blood rule.

Munster PRO Fr Gardiner explained that when the council examined the rule “they could not find a penalty”. “Therefore, we could not impose one,’’ he said.

Padraig Duffy, meanwhile, disagrees with the view that the GAC are in conflict with the Munster Council. The way he puts it, the Munster interpretation of the rule “simply differed” from that of the GAC.

It was put to the Kildare county chairman Andrew O’Sullivan that Cork exposed a loophole in the rule that they themselves were unaware of when they appeared before the GAC earlier in the year. “It would appear so,’’ he replied.

However, while agreeing that the matter needed to be resolved, he said that what happened in Kildare’s case was in the past. “Nobody would begrudge Cork their Munster title,’’ he commented. “I would hate people to think that we feel Cork got preferential treatment. It was simply that two different bodies interpreted the rule.

“But I would agree that it’s an unsatisfactory situation. It needs to be cleared up as soon as possible.’’