Football under the spotlight again

THE state of football has come under further scrutiny in the secretary's reports to both the Connacht and Leinster Council conventions this week. The criticisms follow on the report of Munster Council secretary Donie Nealon in which he called for a development committee for football.

Leinster's Michael Delaney - in a contemplative report which poses the question about the annual convention: "Who cares?" - makes the point that the problems of football seem to manifest themselves primarily at senior inter-county level. He goes on in a vein that runs counter to the frequently expressed perception that the inter-county scene is positively edifying compared to some club activity.

"What provokes violence and cynicism in normally placid young men when they don a county jersey? Are the rewards for winning so great that players will wilfully inflict injury on an opponent to gain advantage? Let's address these couple of points first before we sanction any radical overhaul of the structures which pertain at present.

Delaney also expressed concern over the operating financial loss for the year and said that the recent straying "from a policy of stringent budgeting must now be rectified". Accounts show the provincial council ended its financial year with a deficit of £278,140, as compared to a surplus of £145,237 for 1995.

John Prenty of the Connacht Council, whose annual meeting is in Roscommon tomorrow, praises the work of the Hurling Development Committee and echoes Nealon's call for a football equivalent.

Since then (three years ago) hurling has enjoyed a boom period due largely to the efforts of the Hurling Development Committee . . . I feel the time is now ripe for a similar look at the game of football. In recent years football has been plagued by the amount of fouling in the game. Put bluntly, it pays to foul and many of our managers are coaching their teams in the art of fouling. Not alone is this happening at inter-county level but, more worrying, it is also creeping into schools and under-age level. It is a cancer in our game which must be stopped.

"Of the seven (officials controlling a match) I have major worries about the standard of umpiring at all levels within the game. It is too easy to become an umpire with the criteria of availability the most often used . . We must also look at deterrents to fouling with the possibility of increasing the value of pointed frees for personal fouls or developing a system whereby when a team reaches a total number of team fouls all future frees are from in front of the scoring space."

Prenty also referred to the All-Ireland football final replay fracas which he says, "has no place in our games" but which "continues to dominate media coverage of our association and in recent weeks we have seen footage of it used to embellish a TV news report on an issue totally divorced from the playing of our games. This is hardly fair and balanced coverage of our association. Other codes have had their disciplinary problems as well but they do not appear to have got the same coverage as we have had."

He also criticises the length of time taken by the Games Administration Committee to deal with the matter. "We must be looking at a quicker system of hearing disciplinary cases.

None of Sunday's All-Ireland club football semi-finalists have selected their line-ups yet. Eire Og of Carlow were expected to name their team last night but the decision was deferred until tomorrow night. According to a club spokesperson, there are no serious concerns, "just a few niggling injuries". Selection is further complicated by the availability of two players not considered for the Leinster final against St Sylvester's last December.

Paul Doyle has recovered from a broken arm whereas Tom Nolan has transferred back to the club after two years' absence. Opponents Knockmore will announce later in the week.

University of Limerick, who compete in the Sigerson Cup against Garda College this afternoon, made a surprise and successful application to be included in the draws for the Limerick SF Championship. Although there was some opposition to their application, the vote went in their favour 48-29.

When known as Thomond College they made history in the mid-70s when, under the captaincy of Kerry's Pat Spillane, they won the Munster and All-Ireland club championships - without a Limerick man on their team. Shortly afterwards they withdrew from the Limerick championship, reentered again some years ago but were removed when they failed to fulfil the fixtures.