Ringmahon Rangers set to appeal unprecedented FAI sanctions

On top of a five-year ban from the FAI Cup, the Cork club are barred from the Intermediate Cup for the next three years.

 

Ringmahon Rangers will appeal the unprecedented FAI Cup punishment they incurred for handing Bohemians a walkover in Sunday week’s second round senior Cup tie.

On top of a five-year ban from the Blue Riband, the Cork club are barred from the Intermediate Cup for the next three years. Ringmahon finished runners-up in the 2024 and 2025 competitions.

Additionally, Caoimhín Kelleher’s schoolboy club was hit with a €5,000 fine by the disciplinary committee.

In their statement, the FAI highlighted the maintenance of integrity across their national competitions by ensuring all fixtures being respected.

As first revealed by the Irish Examiner 10 days ago, the Cork club couldn’t commit to the second round fixture on July 19, principally due to a potential clash with the All-Ireland hurling final.

Fears over a low turnout at their temporary home for the fixture, Cobh Ramblers’ St Colman’s Park, coupled with the unavailability of several players expected to be either attending or watching the decider, led to their withdrawal.

It subsequently unfolded that Cork’s hurlers were beaten by Galway in last Saturday’s semi-final – prompting the Munster Senior League champions to post a black-humoured tweet seeking a pre-season friendly to fill the gap on that day. That post has now been deleted. 

The FAI haven’t seen the funny side of that stunt by slapping the club with a three-pronged sanction, dissimilar to anything previously in the long history of the competition.

Walkovers tend to incur small fines but the scale of this reprimand ensures the club will seek a second opinion through the auspices of the appeal process.

That begins by Ringmahon bringing their case to the next level within the FAI, at a cost of €500.

Should they fail to gain adequate clemency at that juncture, the option of arbitration is there but that comes with a hefty outlay of €5,000 before legal fees.

Unlike the walkover fiasco, Ringmahon haven’t released a statement in response to the punishment being publicised by the FAI at noon on Thursday.

It is unusual for the FAI to release the outcome of a disciplinary hearing until the full appeal procedure is exhausted, but clearly they are aiming to set an example for any successors who bring embarrassment to the country’s premier Cup competition.

The Leesiders will cite the unprecedented depth of the sanctions in their defence, noting the player availability issue, but that’s unlikely to garner much sympathy given the club have been regulars in the FAI senior Cup over recent years.

Whatever about the senior Cup, losing out on participating in the Intermediate will sting deeper within their corridors and the dressing-room of the first team.

Having been beaten in the last two finals by Glebe North and College Corinthians respectively, both in extra-time, their bid for a third successive showpiece recently came unstuck by losing at Malahide United.

Amateur players covet the competition, meaning the likes of Corinthians and fellow rivals Rockmount will fancy luring players for their tilt at national supremacy. Appeals are capable of reducing bans but scratching the entire suspension is considered highly unlikely.

Although Ringmahon insisted they were left in an impossible position by the FAI imposing a deadline of last Monday to confirm the fixture details, they failed to mention in their lengthy statement the offer from Bohemians to switch venues and play the game at Dalymount Park early on Sunday. This scenario, had Cork’s hurlers vindicated their favourites' tag by prevailing in the semi, would have allowed players to thereafter attend nearby Croke Park or watch the showdown within the venue’s bars.

That this offer was rebuffed again weakens the Cork side's argument but for a club in receipt of €3m from Kelleher’s progress in England, the appeal fea is a small price to pay for the only option they feel is viable at this stage of a sorry saga.