Cork and Down are pondering their next move after being hit with heavy punishments by the GAA.
Both Ronan McCarthy, the Cork senior football manager, and his Down counterpart Paddy Tally have been proposed for 12-week suspensions for allegedly bringing the game into disrepute following team gatherings that were held last month when the GAA’s training ban was in force.
Additionally, each county is set to lose home advantage for a game in the 2021 Allianz Football League.
The Cork county board said that correspondence outlining the punishments had been received and that it is “being reviewed”, while the Down county board made no comment on the matter.
Although there is a strong likelihood that both counties will contest the punishments, the suspensions would rule McCarthy and Tally out of the lead-in to the League as well as the entire campaign itself, regardless of when it gets underway as the bans would only kick in once inter-county training is allowed to resume.
Down were in the dock as a result of a gathering held on the grounds of Abbey CBS last month. The PSNI was called to the scene having been alerted by a member of the public but while the law of the land wasn’t broken in terms of Covid-19 restrictions given inter-county players’ status as elite athletes, the GAA had insisted that no collective gatherings should take place at that time.
Down chairman Jack Devaney claimed at the time that it was a one-off gathering at which the players were given a run-through of a training programme.
Also last month, video footage emerged of the Cork footballers on Youghal beach engaging in vigorous exercise though McCarthy denied any wrongdoing and described it as “team building” activity.
But, following an investigation, the GAA has taken a different view and has charged the two managers with bringing the game into disrepute, covered under rule 7.2 of the GAA’s Official Guide, for which the minimum suspension is eight weeks.
