Black card now a reality

GAA director general Páraic Duffy admits the association face a major challenge to prepare for the introduction of the black card in 2014 — but remains convinced it will be for the betterment of Gaelic football.

In an astonishing turn of events in Derry on Saturday, almost 71% of delegates voted in favour of the Football Review Committee’s (FRC) proposal.

Duffy, as well as GAA president Liam O’Neill and FRC chairman Eugene McGee, admitted the influence of the speakers’arguments for the motion swung the vote.

A total of 13 people, including seven representing counties as well as figures such as national referees’ committee chairman Pat McEnaney and former president Joe McDonagh, stood up to plead with delegates to back the motion, while Cork and Tyrone were the only vocal opponents of it.

From January 1, 2014, any player who deliberately trips, pulls down an opponent or body-checks an opponent off the ball will be automatically asked to leave the field and be replaced by a substitute.

Abusive or threatening language to an opponent or team-mate as well as aggressive remonstration with a match official will also merit a black card.

Any player who picks up three black cards or three double yellow cards over a season faces a one-match ban.

Teams will also now be able to make six substitutes.

Duffy and O’Neill cut delighted figures in Saturday evening’s post-Congress press conference with the former hailing it as the most progressive Congress in his five years as Ard Stiúrthóir, with 60 of the 74 motions passed. Duffy said: “I accept there is a task here, a huge training issue. We have nine months to deal with this. People will get use to it very quickly. Players will learn — nobody wants to go off the field.

“You’ll learn if you haul somebody down you’ll go off the field. That’s not a very smart thing to do. If you trip somebody you go off the field. That’s not a very smart thing to do.

“It will take people a while to get used to it at every level but they will and through time these fouls will disappear from the game.”

O’Neill, an advocate of cutting cynicism out of Gaelic football as far back as his days as Competitions Control Committee chairman, felt the power of oratory convinced a lot of people the black card deserved its chance.

“I was a little surprised that the majority of speakers were in favour, there were some very impassioned addresses made,” he said.

“People really cared about it, that came across. I’d say the debate on the day was an important factor in the vote that was achieved.”

An emotional McGee broke down on the result being announced on the big screens in The Venue, where earlier video clips of the three aggressive fouls were shown.

“Last night, I was up until 4[am], and not one person said to me ‘you’ll win that’ and they were friends of mine from all over the country.

“So to win by 70% is unbelievable. I could not believe it, I really couldn’t. It will be a landmark decision because it will show the world and especially all GAA people that the association is actually concerned about the quality of football and that it’s not just a glib thing you get at a county convention. It will show we mean business.”

Personally, McGee took a great deal from Congress’ decision after eight months of strenuous work.

“It means a lot to me because, if you like, that’s my farewell gesture to football. I’m using the word me but there were another seven guys and they were brilliant. They went everywhere, my God they were so fanatically dedicated to it. Unbelievable.

“I regard it as very close to winning the All-Ireland [in 1982] because this is for the whole mass of Gaelic football, it’s not for McGee and it’s not for Offaly, it’s for the whole mass.”

Immediate Twitter reaction to the decision among inter-county players and managers was negative, with Aidan O’Rourke tweeting: “Black card carried. Victory for the meddlers & little to be ats who never coach. The game has been sanitised into a parody of itself.”

McGee rubbished O’Rourke’s claim while FRC member Paul Earley, who presented the motions with Tim Healy, also took issue with the Louth manager’s remarks.

“That is very disappointing to hear because these are not physical fouls they are cynical fouls, they have no part to play in the game and you could hear the people who spoke clearly identifying them as cynical fouls.”

All bar five of the FRC’s 22 motions were supported by Congress with the recommendation for all adult club games to be increased from 60 to 70 minutes suffering a significant defeat.

Two motions in relation to increasing the “ball brought forward” advantage given by referees from 13m to 30m was 11% short of receiving the necessary two-thirds majority.

The clean pick-up was also ruled out as was the mark, although that agonisingly received 65%.

In a positive step, the advantage rule was amended allowing referees to call back play up to five seconds after a foul if a player hasn’t attained advantage.

The public clock will also be introduced for all All-Ireland senior football championship matches, meaning a hooter will announce the end of a game.

Duffy admitted it’s likely the rule won’t be implemented until 2014. “We’ll probably wait until next year because of the practicalities of it but it was passed and it’s up to us to make it happen and I think we just have to do it.”