Eight-week ban handed to Jim McGuinness has been rescinded 

Donegal manager Jim McGuinness during the Bank of Ireland Dr. McKenna Cup tie with Tyrone at Healy Park, Omagh 

Donegal manager Jim McGuinness’ eight-week suspension for fielding an illegal player has been rescinded by Ulster GAA’s hearings committee.

The two-month penalty for playing his Glenties club-mate, 17-year-old Finbarr Roarty, in the McKenna Cup win over Armagh was overturned as the hearings body found the breach of rule was not proven.

McGuinness, who was facing a ban which would have ruled him out of team activities for the majority of the county’s Allianz Division 2 campaign, will return to the sideline for Sunday’s McKenna Cup semi-final against Monaghan in Castleblayney.

Their decision is understood to have centred around who exactly was responsible for Roarty lining out in the game when he was ineligible as he had not turned 18 in 2023.

Earlier this week, McGuinness was considered the person in charge by the Ulster Council’s competitions control committee and therefore issued the penalty but that responsibility may have lay elsewhere.

A Donegal statement this morning read: “Following a request by Jim McGuinness to the Ulster Hearings committee, the County secretary has been informed that the alleged infraction was not proven, and that no further disciplinary Action is to be Taken. We can now look forward to our McKenna Cup semi-final against Monaghan on Sunday.”