The chaos which has hit football in Cavan reached a new peak of drama last night when the team management committee resigned. The resigning management team and a representative of team sponsors Kingspan then called on county board chairman Brendan Keaney to resign.

In a hastily-arranged press conference at the Cabra Castle Hotel, Kingscourt, team manager Liam Austin read a statement which ended with his management team's resignation with immediate effect.

The statement pointed the finger at county board chairman Keaney. "We feel saddened that unwarranted interference in team affairs and manipulation of players by the chairman (Brendan Keaney) has made our position impossible," the statement said.

Answering questions after announcing his resignation, Austin suggested that there was a conspiracy to undermine his management. "They tried to shaft me on three occasions," Austin said. "All I want to do is restore the integrity of myself and these men beside me."

Austin was asked whether he felt Keaney's son failure to get on the county panel was an issue in the breakdown of his relationship with the county board chairman. "There could be a tie. My wife herself said that the phonecalls from that man dried up after that."

Later Brendan Murtagh, a former Cavan player who is now a director of Kingspan, suggested that Keaney should "reconsider his position".

He added that in his view "the management committee has been treated in a shoddy and unprofessional manner".

"Kingspan has no interest in interfering in the running or the picking of the team, but we find it difficult to be associated with the way in which the management have been treated," he said.

As a result of last night's development, Keaney appears to be in a difficult position. He was not available for comment last night.

During the afternoon it became clear that a new development was imminent and a press conference was called for the Cabra Castle Hotel at 6.0 p.m. With Austin in the chair, the resignation announcement was made and a full statement issued to the press. The statement, read by Austin, made it clear that he and the other members of the management committee - Hugo Clerkin, Michael Reilly, Barry Tiernan and Martin Lynch - were unanimous in their decision.

Personality problems involving the management committee, the players and the county board executive, under the chairmanship of Brendan Keaney, had been festering for some time and the matter came to a head earlier in the week when a meeting of the players passed a motion of no confidence in the management committee. This had been sparked off, apparently, by a heavy defeat by Fermanagh in a National League match at the end of November. Cavan were beaten by 3-13 to 0-8.

It was reported that, when Austin asked for the dressing-room to be cleared after the match so that he could speak to the players alone, Keaney refused to withdraw.

Subsequently a meeting of players took place and the result was that a vote of no confidence in Austin and his management team was passed on a count of 20 to three. On Tuesday night, an emergency meeting of the county board was held and after a protracted discussion, it was announced that an effort to heal the rift had been agreed. It was suggested that two members of the management, two members of the executive and two players would meet under an independent chairman in a bid to solve the matter, but yesterday's press conference has scuppered that effort.

While Austin and his colleagues were reluctant to add in any way to their official statement, the spokesman for the sponsors, Murtagh, was more forthcoming.

"Quite honestly this is a very bad precedent and has implications for the entire GAA. Many people in Cavan will be horrified by what has happened. A very devoted group of people agreed to run the team and their authority has been undermined. It brings the entire GAA into total disrepute," he said.

Asked if he saw the danger involved in a sponsor being involved in the dispute, he said: "Of course I do. But the fact is that Kingspan never had any input into the way the team was being run, nor would we ever attempt to have such an influence."

He was also critical of some members of the team. "There are people in the squad at the moment who were causing trouble long before Liam Austin and Hugo Clerkin arrived. There has certainly been dissent in the past and it is very sad for Cavan football. Quite honestly the whole thing is embarrassing," he said.