NEWS:THE DUBLIN County Board are seeking a gathering of the Central Hearings Committee (CHC) before this weekend in an attempt to overturn Diarmuid Connolly's suspension.
The Dublin forward was shown a straight red card by referee Maurice Deegan, on the advice of linesman Rory Hickey, during last Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final victory over Donegal.
The Central Competitions Control Committee yesterday confirmed an automatic four week, one-match suspension that rules Connolly out of the All-Ireland final against Kerry on September 18th.
Connolly will be joined at the hearing by John Costello, Dublin’s full-time county board secretary.
The defence to be put forward by Costello is expected to include video evidence of the incident with Donegal’s Marty Boyle on 58 minutes and to suggest Connolly was acting in a defensive rather than aggressive manner.
The two players became involved in a scuffle that Hickey deemed was a sending off offence. No sanction was meted out to Boyle or any Donegal player who subsequently made contact with Connolly.
Should the hearing prove unsuccessful, Connolly has the option of taking his case to the Central Appeals Committee and even the Disputes Resolution Authority – although this has become a less frequent avenue in the past two seasons.
Sligo GAA officials will meet tonight in an attempt to avoid a strike by referees in the county.
Referees are understood to be livid after the county’s hearings committee rescinded a red card dished out to county star Mark Breheny while in action for his club St Mary’s against Tourlestrane in a pool match the weekend before last. However he was free to play in the quarter-finals on Saturday following a decision by the hearing committee.
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