Match bans to be explored by GAA

GAA PRESIDENT Nickey Brennan has said match bans as distinct from periods of suspension will be explored under the ongoing review of disciplinary procedures, although there was no way they would be in place for this year's championship.

"I'd love to think it's possible, but I think it's quite impractical," said Brennan, responding to the situation where the Dublin and Meath players who received only four-week bans following the Parnell Park melee last Sunday week won't miss any championship matches.

"You could have a player sent off last week, but when will his next game be? He might not be selected for a while, so it would be a very difficult administrative process to handle that. And does it impact on club and county?

"It's not as if they're playing for the same team every week, as it is with other sports that use match bans. I don't think it's going to be forgotten about either, but I'm not sure it's practical right now.

"It probably is a flaw in the system, and not as satisfactory as we'd like, but the discipline system is an ongoing process, and we'll continue to update it."

Brennan was speaking at the launch of the 2008 football championship, which for the first time will have a trio of sponsors in Vodafone, Ulster Bank and Toyota - and he put the emphasis on having a "clean" championship:

"Hopefully the message is getting across. Yes, there will be the odd knock, and the odd sending off. We can live with that. But we don't want any bad behaviour, and if there is, we will do the appropriate thing that we've been doing recently."

Brennan also confirmed that the Australian Football League have set provisional dates of October 25th and October 31st for the International Rules series in Australia, with the venues, most likely Sydney and Melbourne. These details are to be decided by the end of the week.