Cork boss Ronan McCarthy has failed in a bid to have his 12-week ban thrown out.
Having initially been proposed for the suspension by the GAA’s high-powered Management Committee on the grounds of “misconduct considered to have discredited the Association” following a gathering of Cork players on Youghal beach last month, McCarthy opted to contest it with the Central Hearings Committee last night.
However, despite his insistence that it was a “team building” exercise that didn’t breach the GAA’s ban on collective training due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the full three-month ban has been imposed by the CHC.
It comes as something of a surprise after Down manager Paddy Tally last week had a similar suspension reduced to eight weeks by the CHC last week.
McCarthy has the option of taking the matter to the Central Appeals Committee or even the Disputes Resolution Authority but challenges at those particular stages of the disciplinary process are rarely successful.
The suspension starts from the date of the hearing, which means that it will elapse on May 13.
It is still unclear what shape the 2021 season will take, with the Allianz Leagues in danger of being scrapped for this year as inter-county activity has lost its exemption under Level 5 Government restrictions, but it is likely that Cork will have resumed training at least before McCarthy’s suspension is complete.
