Jim McGuinness to face no disciplinary action over incident during Kerry-Donegal game

Donegal manager Jim McGuinness and Kerry player David Clifford have avoided any disciplinary action arising from Saturday’s tempestuous All-Ireland football championship clash between the counties in Killarney after the GAA’s Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) opted not to pursue retrospective suspensions.

However, both counties are to receive ‘significant fines’ for the half-time row at Fitzgerald Stadium. Last year, Donegal and Armagh were hit with €7,500 in fines following a melee at the end of their Ulster final clash in Clones.

Kerry’s Micheál Burns, who was sent off following an incident which left Ryan McHugh bleeding from above his left eye, is facing a possible two-match ban.

A Category IV offence – “striking or attempting to strike with arm, elbow, hand or knee either with force or causing injury” – carries a minimum two-match suspension.

McGuinness was involved in an incident with Diarmuid O’Connor during the half-time row, during which he appeared to shove the Kerry player.

However, there was no direct reference to the incident in the report submitted by referee Seán Hurson, which left it difficult for GAA’s disciplinary officials to act.

If McGuinness had been reported by Hurson for a Category IV (a) (II) offence – “any type of physical interference with an opposing player or team official” – then the minimum penalty would have been a 12-week suspension.

Referee Sean Hurson shows Kerry's Micheál Burns a red card during Saturday's game at Fitzgerald Stadium. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho

As Hurson mentioned the escalation of the broader row in his report – and that he spoke to both managers at the start of the second half – the CCCC deemed the matter to have been dealt with by the referee.

Given one of Hurson’s match officials was also in close proximity to the McGuinness-O’Connor incident, the CCCC did not feel there were grounds to revisit the matter. Since officials in real time did not judge the incident as warranting disciplinary action, any subsequent censure might struggle to withstand the appeals process.

Comparisons have been made with the physical altercation between Dublin manager Ger Brennan and Galway’s strength & conditioning coach Cian Breathnach McGinn during a league fixture at Pearse Stadium in March, following which Brennan received a 12-week ban.

However, that is not a direct equivalent to the Kerry-Donegal incident as Brennan was sanctioned by the referee at the time, with Fergal Kelly showing red cards to both men in Salthill, leaving the CCCC with little option but to recommend the minimum 12-week ban.

Brennan fought his case through the GAA’s entire disciplinary system – starting with the Central Hearings Committee, and following on to the Central Appeals Committee and Disputes Resolution Authority – but was unsuccessful in getting the ban overturned.

He has been suspended from all Dublin team activities and will remain barred from involvement in this weekend’s first-round clash against his former charges, Louth.

McGuinness was not sanctioned at the time of the incident in Killarney, or at the start of the second half when Hurson spoke to both managers on the pitch. During that conversation, McGuinness and Kerry boss Jack O’Connor were told to clear the sideline of backroom members.

Kerry's David Clifford during Saturday's game against Donegal. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho

In a separate incident, Clifford appeared to raise a high elbow in a collision with Donegal’s Caolan McGonagle late in the first half, but the incident was not referenced in Hurson’s report.

Before the second half got under way, Kerry’s Evan Looney was shown a yellow card and Burns received a straight red for incidents which played out at the end of the first half.

Apart from the fines for both counties that are to be proposed by the CCCC, only Burns is set to receive a suspension arising from the game in Killarney.

The CCCC is appointed by the GAA president for the duration of their three-year term in office and is comprised of a chairperson, the four provincial secretaries, four other nominees (one from each province), and a secretary selected by the GAA.

The current CCCC, in place from 2024-2027 for the duration of Jarlath Burns’s presidency, is comprised of: chairman Brian Carroll (Roscommon), secretary Feargal McGill (Leitrim), Brian McAvoy (Ulster secretary), John Prenty (Connacht secretary), Kieran Leddy (Munster secretary), Michael Reynolds (Leinster secretary), Oliver Galligan (Cavan), John Doyle (Tipperary), Bernardine McGauran (Sligo), and John Costello (Dublin).