Brennan aims to fast-track cases

GAA president Nickey Brennan has promised to speed up any further disciplinary issues in this summer's championship. In a further defence of the current GAA disciplinary system and the restraints it operates under, Brennan also detailed the reasons behind the delay in the case involving Donegal footballer Paddy Campbell.

"The aim for the rest of this year at least is to expedite the whole process," said Brennan. "Where any further issues arise that may need attention, we want the CDC to view the video on either the Monday night or Tuesday morning. In normal circumstances a player has three days to respond, but clearly if players want their case heard fast then they'll need to waive that right.

"If all that happens, the plan is to hear the case on the Wednesday or Thursday night, with a view to having any appeal heard on the Friday night. But people have to bear in mind there's a lot of clarification being sought in these cases regarding the referee's report. And because counties or players often seek legal advice, we have to do the same. Whether we like it or not the whole thing is becoming more legal, but we can't deny the player his right to contest the case.

"There are still quite a number of stages, so we're still being a little ambitious to hope we can get it all done within a week. There is still a process to go through, but it's never our intention to hold things up in any way.

" There's a whole new scenario coming in next year, so all we can do for now is look at what our rules currently allow and see how fast we can deal with these matters within the genuine restraints that are there."

Brennan then outlined the reasons behind the almost month-long delay in bringing a case against Campbell, who was involved in an incident with Derry's Enda Muldoon in the Ulster semi-final, and subsequently given a four-week ban based on video evidence.

By chance, three members of the CDC were not present at the original Muldoon hearing, which unfortunately for Campbell, meant they could revisit his case.

"Essentially what happened there is that the Enda Muldoon incident was being reviewed," explained Brennan, "during which three members of the CDC were not present, which meant they could subsequently hear the case. One of those was then forced to go into hospital for two weeks, and the other two couldn't hear the case alone. So it had to wait.

"I accept that Donegal weren't happy with that, but there was nothing sinister whatsoever in how we handled it. Maybe there is a case to look at aspects of the formation of the committees, but that's for another day. All I can say is that there were unusual circumstances in the Campbell case."

Brennan was speaking in Croke Park at the announcement of this Saturday's All-Ireland Poc Fada final, set for the Annaverna mountain in Louth - which fittingly led to the current controversy surrounding the use of sliotars in the hurling championship.

"The situation with the sliotars is quite clear. The remaining teams in the championship have been requested to nominate their preferred sliotar. They'll be tested at DCU for size, weight, rim, and so on, and once they're approved, they can be used in the remaining games.

"Goalkeepers won't be allowed to bring in their own bag of balls anymore, and the referees and linesman will be aware of that."

That looks set to leave Waterford and Cork using different balls in Sunday's semi-final, given Cork's preference for the Cummins All Star ball: "Yeah, either sliotar can be used in the course of the game," admitted Brennan.

"But this whole issue arose after Cork's quarter-final with Limerick, but Cork have done nothing wrong here. The Cummins ball they use is approved, and is a good ball, so the only issue here was to bring some order to the process. It looked a bit unseemly the way things were happening at the moment, and for now this was the solution we feel most appropriate."

Finally, Brennan welcomed the announcement earlier this week that Dublin City Council had approved planning permission for the redevelopment at Lansdowne Road. Concerns had been raised that the GAA could end up allowing soccer and rugby be played at Croke Park longer than anticipated if planning permission wasn't forthcoming.

"We're pleased for the other sporting bodies, although obviously they still have a few more obstacles in place. But our arrangement with the other sporting bodies is still only in place for 2007, and it's up to Central Council to decide what happens after that, a decision which will be made in due course."