'Strong message has to go out'

GAELIC GAMES/Championship 2007 news round-up:The GAA's Competition Control Committee (CCC) meets this morning to decide how to deal with the fracas that broke out as Cork and Clare took the field in Sunday's Munster hurling first round in Thurles. According to CCC chair Jimmy Dunne the matter will be dealt with as speedily as possible.

"We're awaiting a report from (a) the referee and (b) the monitor of match regulations. Then we will view video evidence. After that we'll be looking at an investigation on any issues that arise. There's a different format for investigations in operation now, and the first thing that needs to be done is to set that in motion. Hopefully we'll do that in the morning (today)."

The new format, passed by Congress last year, is governed by Rule 144 of the Official Guide, which sets out the procedures for investigation by the CCC, after which the committee may propose disciplinary action.

Should the parties affected wish for a hearing, the matter would go to the Hearings Committee.

Dunne instanced some of the new responsibilities: "Interviewing those in charge of the ground and, for instance, getting details of the arrangements for the day from the Munster Council - what time the teams were due out and what instructions the counties received."

He was also critical of what had happened in the GAA's first major indiscipline case of the 2007 championship and emphasised the importance of dealing with the matter as quickly as possible rather than letting it drag on, as has happened in recent years with other cases. This will also be the first test of the new system for processing disciplinary investigations and it is clearly important that the mechanisms introduced prove to be efficient.

"These are our major games," he continued, "a showcase for the GAA. Everyone looks forward to the Munster hurling championship and for what happened on Sunday to take place is completely unacceptable. I'm not saying anything about individuals or blame until the matter has been properly investigated and due consideration given to the evidence, but I'm very anxious that this be tidied up as quickly as possible. A strong message has to go out."

There were also disorderly scenes at Sunday's other senior hurling championship fixture, between Laois and Offaly, and again they took place before the match started. The difference between what happened in Tullamore and in Thurles was that the referee, Galway's Michael Haverty, took action in the former case, showing yellow cards to Offaly's Brendan Murphy and Laois's Shane Dollard. The CCC will consider Haverty's report and the fact that he took that action before deciding to take any further steps.

Ironically, the chaos at both matches comes within weeks of both GAA director general Liam Mulvihill and president Nickey Brennan having expressed the view that indiscipline in hurling was less of a problem than in football, an assertion that was used to float the idea that the games should consequently be answerable to different sets of rules.

In Thurles, players became involved in shoving, and brawling spread on to the pitch where it lasted for about 30 seconds before order was restored. There was criticism of the fact that both teams were in the tunnel together and attention focused on how that happened.

Munster secretary Simon Moroney said that the arrangements for the match had been clearly communicated in advance and that there had been no ambiguity about the proper time to leave the dressingrooms. "Both sides were notified of the time to come out on to the field. All details and logistics - the allocation of dressingrooms, dugouts, warm-up areas and the seats for the intermediate teams - were made clear in advance. There was also a time specified for each team three minutes apart. It has always been the tradition that Munster champions come out second. That would have been communicated crystal clear in writing to both counties.

"The regulations governing this are now very specific and were informed by what had happened at previous matches (a reference to the scenes before last year's Dublin-Mayo All-Ireland semi-final when both teams went to the same end of the ground, Hill 16, for their warm-up)."

Sources in Clare, however, maintain that the situation arose because their players were delayed from taking the field because the music intended to herald the arrival of the teams wasn't ready when they had left the dressingroom and that the delay had meant they were still in the tunnel when Cork came out.