Mulvihill picks on pick-up

Gaelic Games: In a surprising break from tradition GAA director general Liam Mulvihill has commented on a motion ahead of its discussion at Congress, warning against the adoption of the experimental rule which allows the clean pick-up off the ground in football.

Mulvihill refers to the rule in his annual report, which he outlined in Croke Park yesterday before its formal deliverance at next month's Congress.

"I don't favour allowing the clean pick-up off the ground as experimented with," he says in the report, "because I believe it may lead to serious head injuries for players diving in to scoop the ball off the ground. The pick-up could be allowed if a player has both feet on the ground, but any player diving to make contact with the ball should be punished, while scooping the ball off the ground to someone else is not a skill intrinsic to our game."

The pick-up rule is the subject of two motions at Congress; one, from St Joseph's in Roscommon, is less restrictive than the other, from Mayo's Ballyhaunis, in that it doesn't require the player to be standing.

Mulvihill explained his break from formality: "I felt this needed some comment because of the safety issue, which I don't think has been highlighted. I also think we've seen a major increase in the amount of hop-balls because of the confusion over the pick-up."

There were more general references to the experimental rules, especially in terms of their relevance to discipline, an area highlighted yet again in his report.

"I've spoken so often about discipline by now that there's probably nothing new I can say . . .

"The most controversial of the experiments was the sinbin/yellow card aspect and it was understandable there would be confusion and controversy about something so radical. Opinions have been divided about it but I cannot agree with those who say the games don't need more discipline: all the evidence is to the contrary."

One solution, he suggested, was to start enforcing the rules as they actually exist, and he also recommended the introduction of an awards scheme for players or counties with an exemplary disciplinary record.

The increase in court cases was also a growing cause for concern, although Mulvihill appeared confident that changes in certain disciplinary matters - due to be outlined by the GAA later today - would include a new tribunal system which would more or less make it unnecessary for players to seek interlocutory injunctions in the courts.

On other playing matters, Mulvihill reiterated once again the need to introduce monitoring and testing of umpires, including re-examination of the tradition whereby the appointed referee is responsible for his own umpires. He called on the Central Referees Appointments Committee to adopt a more proactive role with the appointment of referees, and put fresh emphasis on attracting young referees to the games.

Mulvihill, however, wasn't going to speak out on the matter of Rule 42, although he did call for a fair debate and that no one "go overboard in attempting to justify their point of view".

He also confirmed a written ballot and not just a show of hands would likely be the method of counting the delegate votes.

In addressing other areas, Mulvihill sent out an open invitation to all counties to bring their home grounds up to the required standard for one of the International Rules matches in 2006, and also called on the Ulster Council to consider another provincial final in Croke Park.

The often crippling cost of running county teams inevitably got some attention, and Mulvihill pointed out the cost each year ranged from €1 million (in the case of Cork) to €190,000 (in the case of Monaghan).

The average cost was €473,000.

In referring to Gaelic games at second level schools, it was revealed that 268 post-primary schools in the country had none. In general, though, the state of the association is clearly not causing Mulvihill too many sleepless nights.