We're in the Clear!!!!

[Lone Shark]

Subject to appeal and reappeal and Supreme Court sittings of course ......

Still, all Good!!


Taken from aertel......

Offaly are through to the semi-finals
of the Leinster football championship
despite the controversy surrounding
their alleged use of six subs in their
quarter-final victory over Kildare.

The Leinster Council's Games
Administration Commitee met this
morning, adopted the referee's report
on the game and deemed that the result
should stand The Leinster Council had
requested Croke Park's Central Council
to interpret the rule governing blood
substitutions.

However, the Management Commitee of the
GAA has decided that this wouldn't be
an appropriate course of action.

[Treasurer]

According to Setanta, Kildare are stunned by the decision and are meeting tonight to discuss grounds for appeal. Idiots.

[Kevin]

LS, thanks for posting this. I had just read Hoganstand before (they have since posted the article about Offaly prevailing and Kildare appealing)and was about to launch into a tirade on accountability which is too late to stop (sorry).

You gotta love it. The Leinster Council completely abdicates what would be considered to be their responsibility. What a bunch of cowards. They push it up to the Central Council who sit on it and finally come back with some jibberish about the interested parties not having a place to appeal since they will have the last word (or something like that). Good God - that is instead of immediately telling the slaggards of the Leinster to deal with their own problems and we'll weigh in if it is deemed necessary - after the decision is made.

Okay so now Hoganstand reports that an appeal will be lodged to the Central Council and the 'DRA' will be called in. Loneshark's note below states the following: 'However, the Management Commitee of the
GAA has decided that this wouldn't be
an appropriate course of action.'

Can Treas or someone who understands the admin side of the GAA please help me understand who is actually accountable for anything. It just seems like we have a pretty straightforward decision to be made, but numerous committees floating around which allow the would be decision makers to run and hide until forced into a corner.

I am a little removed form the whole process and I'm sure things are organized a certain way for specific reasons, but this whole thing just seems so roundabout and laborious.

On the bright side and more importantly, our team played well and we are looking at Leinster Semi-Final! Can't ask for more from the team at this point. Let's hope this roll continues.

[Hocker]

Thats just made my weekend, in fact my whole week (Could also be spelt hole weak... Ha Ha) Dont be wasting your time kildare, let it lie & then politely Fuck off & not be getting in the way of some decent progress.........
Wonder will it be a double header in croker in 2 weeks time????

[Lone Shark]

Unsurprisingly, here comes the appeal!

Taken from aertel:

KILDARE TO APPEAL
COUNCIL'S BLOOD SUB
DECISION
-------------
The Kildare Co Board will, as expected,
make an appeal to the GAA's Central
Council after the Leinster Council's
decision to allow the result of the
Lilywhites' match with Offaly to stand.

Their statement issued yesterday read:
'The executive felt that they were left
with no alternative but to initiate the
appeals process, in light of the
mandate given by the Special County
Board meeting on Tuesday night.'

'We wish to emphasise that this is
being done to safeguard the integrity
of the Rules of the Association, so
that a definite ruling will be made and
all units will be in a position to be
fully compliant with it.'

[Kevin]

'We wish to emphasise that this is
being done to safeguard the integrity
of the Rules of the Association, so
that a definite ruling will be made and
all units will be in a position to be
fully compliant with it.'

All the GAA should thank them for this public service. Ourselves included!

[anfeardearg]

We got away with it. We should have at least gotten a fine for our faux pas.

And of course Kildare are entitled to object. We did in '98 when we sat on the pitch in Croker.

[Lone Shark]

No offence anfeardearg, but that appears to be WUMmery of the highest order.

The specifics of the two incidents were gone through in great detail here. If you can come up with a case saying Offaly broke any rule, then lay it out, by all means - I suspect you'll find it difficult though - I refer you to Treasurer's post about the case study in the other thread on this topic.

As for 1998, the rules were clear and we were entitled to protest. The fact that Clare did not object at the time proves that the case was watertight. Anyway, surely if you were on the pitch as you say, you were there because you wanted to right the injustice that was going on at the time?

[anfeardearg]

As far as I am aware (correct me if I'm wrong) that the blood sub has to be replaced by the player he came on for. That did not happen in this case and tbh I was expecting a fine from the Leinster Council. Understandably Kildare are aggrieved that NO sanction was brought against Offaly in this case.

Put the shoe on the other foot. I'm sure most counties would feel the same.

[Treasurer]

correct me if I'm wrong

You're wrong

[Lone Shark]

Very wrong.



And to put the shoe on the other foot, as you say, even if it was breaking a technicality - I wouldn't want an appeal from our county. A motion submitted to next year's congress by all means, but certainly no appeal.

We didn't appeal the wide ball against Westmeath, and that did make all the difference, and I'm proud of the fact that we didn't. Your shoe doesn't appear to fit my other foot.

[anfeardearg]

Lets look at it from Kildares point of view for a minute. They were on the end of a bad decision against Sligo a few years ago. If I were them I'd be mightily pi$$ed off that we received NO sanction. If the Leinster Council fined us surely it would make them look somewhat competent. I'm only trying to be reasonable here.

I'm proud of the fact that we all stand up for our own. Whatever county you come from you should always stand up for your own. I can really understand Kildare's frustration though. I'm sure I'd feel the very same way if it happened to the county I follow.

[Lone Shark]

When Kildare did this against Sligo, the rules did not allow the use of more than 20 players. They used 21. That the punishment may not have fitted the crime is not in doubt, but they broke the rules, clear as day. We didn't. We have put forward several good cases as to why we didn't break the rules - the 4th official, ref's report, everything could have been done legally anyway even if the paperwork was wrong, and Treasurer's case study. Our case is rock solid. They're mumbling away about "Fair Play" and rule 113(b) which only refers to another rule. They have nothing, other than frustration at having a reminder of their own errors past coming back to haunt them.

If I was from Kildare I'd be pissed off that my county was going on like this, and as such, subjected me, the humble follower, to years of jibes about not taking a beating like decent GAA folk for years to come. I'd be pissed off at my county board who is about to spend €20 grand or so taking a case to the DRA, money that will have to be recouped out of gate money in the Kildare club championship this Autumn. I wouldn't be pissed off at Central Council/Leinster Council for not indulging the idiots who brought this case forward.

[Bord na Mona man]

Folks,
just a couple of things you might get a laugh at.
On the Kildare board, lot of their fans are rabidly hoping that Offaly get punished.
A couple of guys are being fairly reasonable and are getting it with both barrells from the loony element.

http://kildaregaa.proboards18.com/index ... 1149337931

At this stage, Kildare seem to be really running on empty.
They are starting to resign themselves to the qualifiers, realise that trying to wedge their way back into Leinster is futile. Still, now that they made so much of a fuss, they feel they can't back down with their tail between their legs.

The article below (borrowed from hoganstand) is a real hoot. I presume it's genuine, though I haven't seen an online version. The best laugh is when he appears to refers to Aaron Shearer, who is barrister and on the DRA.

COP OUT!
Top GAA Committees decide blood subs row not for them
By Tommy Callaghan
Leinster Leader
AND so the Offaly blood sub row rumbles on.
Incredible.
Absolutely incredible.

After a special meeting of the Leinster Council, an airing on Friday night of the powerful Management Committee of the GAA, a brief hearing at Saturday’s Central Council gathering at Headquarters and a re-convened meeting of the Leinster Council – no decision, good, bad or indifferent has been arrived at concerning the use by Offaly of six substitutes against Kildare a week and a half ago in the Leinster SFC quarter final.
This has to go down as one of the greatest fudges, cop outs, buck passing, spineless exercises we have witnessed from the GAA for many a long day.
The facts are simple, straight forward, have precedent – but require leadership – something that it seems, is sadly lacking, initially from the Leinster Council, but more importantly, from the Management and Central Council.
The problem landed back in the lap of the Leinster Council – by all accounts to a furious Leinster Council – after they (Leinster Council) had initially sought ’guidance’ from the higher authority.
Leinster, having received no ’official’ guidance, duly adopted the referees report of the game without addressing the blood sub controversy.
Kildare Co. Board, to their credit, refused to go away. Following a meeting of the Board,Wednesday last week.
at which it was unanimously decided to pursue the matter ’all the way’, an appeal was due to be lodged early this week to the CAP (Central Appeals Committee) and will probably be heard on Wednesday.
The chances of it ending there, however, are remote.
This issue will, most likely, be eventually resolved by the DRA (Disputes Resolution Authority).
The whole issue has unfolded into a nightmare for everyone concerned.
It certainly is not doing either Offaly or Kildare any favours.
Offaly, no doubt, are continuing to prepare for a Leinster semi-final clash against Wexford, while at the back of their minds are fully aware they broke a rule concerning blood subs.
Kildare, on the other hand, are in no man’s land. Will they be facing Offaly in a re-fixture, or should they be concentrating entirely on a Qualifier game against Cavan?
At a time when we are about to get wall to wall coverage of the World Cup, the GAA is sending out all the wrong signals as an organisation that is either, unwilling and/or unable to implement its own rules and regulations.
It is a PR disaster of monumental proportions.
This entire matter has now become much bigger than Kildare v. Offaly.
It may, if not adjudicated on quickly, fairly and properly, return to haunt Croke Park and the championship of 2006.
Ignoring the matter, hoping it will disappear, is so childish it is bordering on the farcical.
Kildare are absolutely the innocent party in all of this ... and that should not be lost sight of.
The DRA will be the ultimate arbitrators in this matter. Under the guidance of Liam Keane, a Meath based solicitor, the committee is made up of a panel of 30 – half of which are GAA Rules experts (not my words I can assure you) while the other half consists of legal eagles.
Liam Keane, it is understood, will appoint either two or three people from each of these groups and these will make the ultimate decision which will, gladly, be binding on both counties.
• Incidentally former Na Fianna player, Alan Shearer, who is one of the legal ’experts’ on the DRA panel, it is believed, will not be sitting in judgement as he has already gone public on his views on this matter.

[The Biff]

Tommy Callaghan does most of the GAA articles in the Leinster Leader each week and his passion for the Lily Whites is never hidden. In fairness to him, last week's paper had little or no focus on the Subs Issue and he made it quite clear that Kildare were beaten by a better team and their problems stemmed from a few injury problems (both before and during the game) and poor substitution decisions by the Kildare team management.

As I read his article below, he is most critical of the Leinster Council (a view I would share as they should have at least tried to add some clarity to the issue on Saturday last rather than just announcing a decision alone). He probably feels he must fall in line with the Kildare GAA Authorities as they are his main Suppliers AND Customers for his reports.

Seeing as the current Appeal is to the CAC, it is a poor show to be already talking about the DRA. However we can reassure him that a certain former Newcastle Striker should have plenty of time on his hands to offer guidance as he has retired from playing. He may of course be offering guidance in a BBC Studio in Germany.

After watching a bit of "Monsters Inc" at the weekend with my kids, I'm reminded of a quote from the one-eyed green ball Mike Wazowski: "Oh that darn paperwork - wouldn't it be great if it all just blew away?"