Munster meeting to decide fate of title

A final decision on the fate of the Munster football title now rests with the Munster Council. Ian O'Riordan reports

A special meeting has been arranged for Limerick this evening (9.0), where it will be decided if Cork must forfeit their title because of the illegal use of substitutes in the course of Sunday's 19-point victory over Tipperary.

As well as using the five permitted substitutes, Cork also used an additional player as a temporary blood substitute. Though clearly unintentional, it meant that 21 different players were used - one more than the legal 20 allowed under official GAA rules.

The penalty for infringing the rule is forfeiture of the game.

It was revealed yesterday that the matter now rests with the Munster Council rather than the GAA's Games Administration Committee. Pauric Duffy, chairman of the GAC, confirmed that the matter as it now stands was not under their sanction.

"We would certainly be dealing with any infringements of a disciplinary nature, but my understanding is that this is a matter for the Munster Council to decide," said Duffy.

The facts of the match referee Michael Monaghan's report will be examined by the Munster Council GAC committee, who will then make a recommendation on the fate of the Munster title.

There are a limited number of options open to the Munster Council. Cork must either forfeit the game as is the stated penalty - giving Tipperary their first Munster title since 1935 - or an arrangement may be agreed upon whereby the game is replayed.

Either way, Mayo are due to play the losing side in the All-Ireland fourth-round qualifier in Ennis this Saturday evening. The GAC are in a position to postpone that fixture for a week if required.

The Tipperary County Board are not getting involved in the matter yet, waiting instead on the Munster Council's decision before making any comment.

Team manager Tom McGlinchey has stated that his sole focus is getting his team ready for next Saturday's qualifier.

It is now clear, however, that Cork were in breach of the substitutions rule. Prior to the start of this year's championship, Croke Park issued an updated version of official regulations governing the organisation and presentation of senior championship games, where the blood rule was explained in considerable detail.

Regarding blood injuries, "temporary replacement players are allowed under the Blood Rule subject to a maximum of 20 players being used either (a) in ordinary time or (b) in extra time".

There is an exception whereby, if a team has used its full quota of substitutes, the temporary replacement player may be drawn from outside the 20 players already used, but only when it's the goalkeeper that has been instructed to leave the field, and when the temporary player acts only as the goalkeeper. A sixth replacement may also be allowed when a team has used its full quota of five substitutes and the match referee subsequently instructs a player to leave the field for attention under the blood rule, but in this situation the team is still subject to a maximum of 20 players.

At Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday, Cork made three different replacements midway through the second half. They then used Alan Quirke as a straight substitute for goalkeeper Kevin O'Dwyer.

A blood substitution was then used, with Noel O'Donovan temporarily replacing Ronan McCarthy. Finally, they made the fatal mistake of introducing Diarmuid O'Sullivan for Colin Corkery - thus using six different replacements, and extending their total player usage to an illegal 21.

Dan McCartan, chairman of the National Referee's Administration Committee, has confirmed that the fourth official has the responsibility to authorise and control the entry of a temporary replacement, but that the ultimate responsibility of staying within the rules lies with the participating counties.

There were reports yesterday of some misinformation between the Cork management and the fourth official regarding the use of blood replacements, but this was dismissed as a "complete red herring" by a Cork spokesperson. Team manager Larry Tompkins has freely acknowledged that he used five substitutions as well as the blood replacement, in the belief that the team were within the rules.

The draw for the quarter-finals of the football championship is due to take place on Sunday night.