A GAA citing commissioner would end Sunday Game justice
The outgoing secretary of the GAA’s Disputes Resolution Authority maintains citing commissioners would put an end to The Sunday Game being judge and executioner on disciplinary cases.
In a wide-ranging interview in Saturday’s Irish Examiner, Jack Anderson - whose term finishes this weekend - accepts that RTE’s highlights programme does play a disproportionate role in influencing which players are brought to book for disciplinary indiscretions.
“Sometimes you think the citing goes on on The Sunday Game and there’s definitely a bit of that.
“What players who have done wrong should be worried about is a citing commissioner going over the video of a game. Punditry like Match of the Day happens but the real stuff would be happening if you had a full-time disciplinary officer.
"These are tweaks in the process. Effectively, your CCCC can act as the officer — it’s not a big change in that way and more and more matches are being covered by unedited video. The facility is there if you want.”
Anderson also outlines the dramatic late night hearing involving Dublin’s Diarmuid Connolly on the eve of the 2015 All-Ireland semi-final replay against Mayo. Connolly was cleared to play in a controversial DRA ruling that Anderson admits he had reservations about. The case triggered a move to close off such a legal loophole for future cases.
Read the Big Interview with Jack Anderson in Saturday’s Irish Examiner Weekend Sport.
