GPA asks delegates to vote against hurling black card at congress

The Gaelic Players Association has called on delegates at next weekend’s congress to vote against the introduction of the black card into hurling. In a press statement, released on Monday, the GPA said that a survey of inter-county hurlers had “come out overwhelmingly in opposition to its proposed introduction”.

A motion to congress from the Standing Committee on the Playing Rules is proposing a black card for certain cynical fouls - such as deliberately pulling down or tripping an opponent - be punished as in football by 10 minutes in the sin bine, as is currently the case in football.

According to the GPA statement, which also called for a ban on advertising bookmakers during live match broadcasts: “The research was carried out by means of a confidential survey among 2019 championship panels between February 6th and February 20th. In total 1116 inter-county hurlers from 35 squads took part in the research. This is close to a 100 per cent response rate.

“Eighty-nine per cent of respondents are against the introduction of a black card/sin bin in hurling with just 11 per cent in favour. GPA delegates will abide by the players’ views and vote accordingly at GAA congress.”

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On this issue GPA chief executive Paul Flynn said; "We're urging all delegates to support the views of the players at congress and will share this information with them ahead of the weekend."

He also expanded on the gambling issue, on the subject of which a GPA motion is to be considered at Central Council.

“It was clear from the ESRI Report that gambling is an issue that concerns inter-county players. The ESRI Reports, the GPA Student Report and other membership surveys allow us listen to the voice of players and act accordingly.

“This information informs us of their views on issues of great importance to them and their playing experiences. This guides our policy developments and strategy initiatives.

“Both the GAA and the GPA have long been leaders in this area and we’ll now work with Central Council to take another big step towards removing the link between gambling and our games.”