Bannon’s club move to ban ref video reviews

THE Longford club of former intercounty referee John Bannon has called on GAA chiefs to abolish the practice of seeking clarification from officials on controversial disciplinary incidents in inter-county matches.

Legan Sarsfields have submitted a motion for consideration to be debated at GAA Congress, whereby inter-county referees will no longer be asked by the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) to examine video footage of incidents in matches they took charge of and decide whether further action needs to be taken.

The motion, which was passed at the Longford county convention before Christmas, stems from the controversy surrounding last August’s All-Ireland SFC semi-final between Cork and Tyrone which was the last intercounty match that Bannon took charge of before retiring.