Sean Walsh: Rules say simulation a yellow card offence

The GAA’s national referees development committee chairman Sean Walsh has stressed that, according to the rulebook, simulation is a yellow card offence.

As Tiernan McCann prepared his case for tomorrow night’s Central Hearings Committee meeting to have a proposed eight-week disrepute charge dropped — arising from his feigning in Tyrone’s All-Ireland quarter-final — to clear him to play against Kerry in Sunday’s semi-final, Walsh said refs have been informed such an act warrants a yellow card.

The former Kerry and Munster chairman said: “It would be very wrong for me to comment, particularly on that one, because it is a disciplinary situation.” However, he said: “It [feigning] is covered with a yellow card in the general rules.”

Speaking to RTÉ Radio 1, Walsh said he was aware of reports McCann was facing a suspension for bringing the association into disrepute. “All I can say is that we’re very, very strong on it. There is a yellow card for it and when it happens, there should be a yellow card. We have told our referees that at all times.”

Walsh also said the black card in football may not be working as well as had been hoped. “I was a big supporter of the black card. I felt it was needed and I was on management [committee] when it was brought in. Is it doing its job? Maybe it’s not doing as good a job as people thought it would do, but I do believe that it’s needed.”

He said the sin-bin wasn’t given a proper shout when it was experimented with in the pre-season competitions 10 years ago.

“I don’t believe it got enough of a trial. It might be more of a deterrent to some of the fouls that are being created now for a black card, because now you’re going to find you will pick up more black cards in the last 20 minutes of a match than the first 20 minutes of a match because a fella doesn’t want to be sitting down a bench.

“I honestly felt at the time that the sin bin didn’t get enough of an airing and I think that we’ve proved that if you’re going to trial something you’re going to have to trial it in a meaningful competition, maybe something like the national league.”