Club concern over Dolan omission

Roscommon football: Roscommon club St Brigid's have expressed concern over the dropping of their player Frankie Dolan from the county panel. They have called for an urgent meeting with the county executive to discuss what they regard as the hostile attitude of one of the county selectors towards the club and their players.

The action taken by county manager Val Daly in omitting Dolan followed an altercation between the player and Roscommon selector Séamus Killoran after last weekend's Connacht championship defeat by Mayo at Dr Hyde Park.

Conor Beirne, was also cut from the panel following an incident on Sunday night away from the football field. Neither will be part of the team's preparations for the All-Ireland qualifiers.

St Brigid's, in a statement released through spokesperson Ger Aherne, were at pains to stress the two suspensions were in no way linked and that Dolan "regrets his involvement" in the altercation with the team official. "After speculation in the media this morning Frankie Dolan was formally notified of his omission from the panel by the county manager," the statement continues.

"The club understands that the decision to drop him is not connected in any way with the decision to drop another player from the panel, which it understands is for different reasons. While the club respects the right of the county senior management to make necessary decisions regarding players' behaviour it must strongly state that it has serious misgivings about the decision to drop Frankie Dolan, who on this occasion has not even been given a fair hearing.

"This is against the background of undignified comments regarding our club and its players in senior and under-21 county teams by a member of the county team management in recent years. The club has formally requested an urgent meeting with officers of the county board. It is hoped this will take place early next week."

Three years ago the county board introduced a "code of conduct" requirement for county panellists in the wake of indiscipline on a training weekend in Derry before the 2002 championship.

There is still no resolution to the dispute between RTÉ and the Gaelic Players Association concerning the product placement of sports drinks during post-match interviews. Both parties have indicated they are hopeful further talks taking place this morning will conclude the controversy, which has led to a number of players, including the Cork hurling panel, refusing to co-operate with RTÉ.