Connolly Farce A Dark Day For Gaa

Dublin supporters woke up this morning to the news that Diarmuid Connolly has had his suspension for striking Lee Keegan overturned. Having had two appeals turned down during the week he took his case to a higher authority, the DRA, and they ruled in the mercurial centre forward's favour. He will be lining out for the Dubs in their eagerly anticipated replay with Mayo at Croke Park this evening, and no doubt he will be one of the main contribtors to the spectacle.

However, this decision raises serious questions about the future of the disciplinary procedures of the GAA, and how they must regret setting a precedent when they overturned Lee Keegan's red card for throwing a boot into Kerry's Johnny Buckley last year. It seems now that striking will no longer result in a suspension, and the only punishment the guilty player will face is missing the remainder of the game if the referee sends him off. It is a truly farcical situation, but the GAA have nobody but themselves to blame.

A solution will not be easy to find either. Any player sent off for striking will know that if they keep appealing, and take it to the courts, the judge will rule in their favour. No matter how obvious, or violent, the offence is the GAA will not be able to enforce a suspension once the player involved decides to appeal. Their hands are tied now, and it will be interesting to see how they try to wriggle out of this one. Joe Brolly's view on the matter should be fascinating later given his legal background, and the GAA may well need the services of a crack lawyer if they are going to clean up this mess that is all of their own making.