Cork GAA to appeal training ban sanctions

Cork manager Ronan McCarthy will appeal the 12-week ban imposed by the GAA for overseeing a players’ gathering on Youghal beach last month. Picture: INPHO/Laszlo Geczo

Ronan McCarthy, the Cork football manager, will appeal the 12-week ban imposed by the GAA for overseeing a players’ gathering on Youghal beach last month in breach of rules on off-season training. 

Cork GAA is also set to challenge the added sanction of loss of home venue for a National League Division 2 game this season, though CEO Kevin O’Donovan stopped short of confirming as much to delegates at a Board meeting last night.

Cork were informed of the penalties late on Monday, with Mr O'Donovan confirming that the Board executive is giving the sanctions “due consideration”. Cork has until tonight to inform Croke Park whether it and McCarthy are to seek hearings, but there are strong indications they will proceed on that basis.

Mr O’Donovan told delegates: “We have received disciplinary notice [arising from] the events on Youghal beach. There are proposed penalties of losing home advantage for one match and a 12-week suspension for the manager.” 

Down manager Paddy Tally is facing a similar suspension arising from a players’ gathering in Newry. Officials in the county claim it was a one-off meeting to distribute pre-season training schedules and programmes.

If Ronan McCarthy’s three-month ban, handed down under a rule dealing with discrediting the association, is upheld, he will have little or no involvement in Cork’s Allianz League campaign. 

A Croke Park sub-committee found that Cork’s ‘team-building’ session on Youghal beach in January was in breach of Rule 6.45, which precludes collective training outside the specified window.

The GAA rule in question, which has been the subject of liberal interpretation by some counties in the past, says that “collective training is where one or more player(s) is/are required to be at a specific place at a specific time on a specific date. Inter-county panels may return to collective training and/or games for the following year on a timetable determined annually by the Central Council.”

The three-month bans for the managers will commence when collective training is permitted. 

Latest indications suggest that will be at the start of March if Covid-19 case numbers continue to drop at current rates.