GAA to act on sliotars issue

The GAA are to step up their testing of officially licensed sliotars in a bid to outlaw counties from introducing their own balls into championship matches.

The issue came to a head during last weekend's All-Ireland SHC quarter-final between Limerick and reigning champions Cork.

When Rebel full-back Diarmuid O'Sullivan sallied forward to take a late penalty, he tucked a sliotar – believed to be a Cummins All-Star ball – into the back of his shorts, seemingly with the intent of using it instead of the match ball, which was manufactured by O'Neills.

While the Cummins ball, which travels faster through the air, is perfectly legal as one of nine different brands that have been made official – the O'Neills ball, for some time, has been Croke Park's preferred one for championship use.

The GAA's Central Council convened in Dublin earlier today, and issued the following statement on the matter: "Central Council reiterated its position that only sliotars supplied by the Committee in charge should be used in championship games.

"Counties will be asked to specify their preferred brand of licensed ball for the remaining games in the championship. These will be tested and stamped to signify they are official match balls and only these sliotars may be used during a game."

Also up for discussion was the failure of the Croke Park stewarding system to prevent a flurry of supporters from taking to the field at the end of the recent Leinster SFC final between Dublin and Offaly.

To address the issue of pitch incursions at Croke Park, there will be "an increase in stewarding and Garda presence" for forthcoming games. The GAA hope that a punchy publicity campaign – highlighting the safety risks involved for supporters – will have the desired effect.