The intense speculation about David Fitzgerald's All Star nomination will be resolved tomorrow. The Clare goalkeeper was suspended for two months for discrediting the association following a sideline brawl after the summer's Munster Under-21 final, when he coached the Clare team which lost to Tipperary.

In previous years, any suspension automatically ruled out a player from receiving an All Star. This was ameliorated to any suspension greater than two weeks, and, when the scheme was replaced by a players' equivalent in 1995 and 1996, suspensions weren't taken into account at all.

When the journalists' scheme was re-instated two years ago, the principle of automatic exclusion was rejected by the new committee and a new provision on sportsmanship adopted.

"Sportsmanship is an integral element in the awarding of an All Star and must form part of the argument for a player's nomination," the committee's guidelines state. "The sportsmanship of a player can either be accepted by the committee in the absence of any indications to the contrary or it must be defended in relation to the specific act complained of, in the case of a record of indiscipline, and the general demeanour of the player."

This was intended to accept sportsmanship as a criterion for selection but not to base that judgment exclusively on whether a player had been suspended. If he has received a suspension, the onus is on the player's advocates to show this shouldn't prevent his selection.

Fitzgerald received his suspension after being nominated in October. Fourteen years ago, Offaly's Pat Fleury was sent off in a match after being selected on the 1985 hurling All Stars. Although he only received a two-week suspension, he wasn't invited to the presentation dinner to accept his award.