McEntee could escape censure

News: The indications are the Games Administration Committee will not take further action against Armagh's John McEntee in respect of Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final against Donegal.

McEntee was seen elbowing Barry Monaghan late in the match but the referee Michael Monahan only showed a yellow card despite having seen the incident at close quarters.

Without wanting to second-guess what the committee would do, one GAC source said whereas it was within the powers of the committee to take action, the members weren't guaranteed to exercise them.

"We're entitled to look at it but the committee's view of these things tends to be that when the referee takes action that should be the end of it. The problem here is that the referee went to the linesman even though it happened in front of him."

But earlier in the year Tyrone centre back Gavin Devlin was handed a 12-week suspension after stamping on Laois's Colm Parkinson despite the fact he had been shown a yellow card.

As the GAC had unusually suspended Devlin for dangerous play and trebled the minimum suspension period he was eligible to play for his club team on the basis that his suspension was for an offence in a lesser category.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that the football qualifier system, now in its third year, is likely to get the go-ahead for a further period when the GAA's Competitions' Work Group reports at the end of this month.

Introduced at a special congress in Dublin in autumn 2000, the qualifiers have proved a great success and were introduced to hurling last year.

Initiatives in hurling will be the responsibility of the Hurling Development Committee and it has already been reported that any plans there for radical change have been shelved.

"There will be no massive change in the football," according to a senior GAA source.

"It's felt that with only three years gone in the qualifiers, it's only fair to allow the format run for another few years. We're looking at proposals for a secondary competition and how to accommodate it within the current structure."

GAA president Seán Kelly has made no secret of his desire to see an upgraded competition for non-elite counties. The All-Ireland B competitions suffered from declining levels of interest among players and spectators and the football competition was abandoned.