https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/2023/01/26/ciaran-murphy-the-unsettling-gap-between-the-gaa-rulebook-and-the-gaa-way/
At various stages over the last three days, both teams have been asked to judge the merits of this case not from a regulatory standpoint, but from a moral or ethical standpoint. They have had to navigate their path along the GAA Way, not the GAA Rulebook.
That was allowed to happen by extraordinarily weak GAA leadership. Yes, we have been stung multiple times in this country by the scourge of the celebrity sports administrator. And generally speaking, I’m in favour of administrators taking a back seat.
But sometimes you need a GAA President or a GAA Director-General to take the lead in a situation like this. It’s not a crime to say the end of this game was mishandled – everyone can see that. There’s a difference between refs being scapegoated and being held accountable.
The second the officiating team realised their mistake, the fateful 45 should have been re-taken. They were central GAA’s representatives on the field. From that moment on, it was the GAA’s mess to clear up. And whatever about the residual power of the GAA Way, the GAA Rulebook will now have the final say.
Spot on.
If the 45 had been re-taken, it is likely KC would still have won and there'd be not a word about it.
As it stands, failure of officials to take action at the time have resulted in this mess.
All that can be done, is to follow the rule book. Let the process run, Glen have raised their objection and KC have time to respond. My understanding is if they don't respond or refute the Objection, then CCCC start an inquiry into Glen's objection. KC could also admit that they had 16 players on the pitch, and in this case an inquiry is not required (I think).
If an inquiry is held and it finds in favour of Glen's objection OR KC admit the fact there were 16 players, then the CCCC have to decide on a punishment, if any. Then both teams have 3 days to appeal that decision.
If KC admit that the grounds of Glen's objection are valid and no inquiry is needed, then the CCCC decide on punishment, if any. And once again, both teams have 3 days to appeal that decision.
It's all a mess but those are the procedures so it's likely to be the middle of next week before we get to any final outcome.
The issue of fault only comes into it when the CCCC are deciding on a potential punishment and those failings of officials, players, team management etc will all be mitigating factors in that decision making process. I'm not sure factors like the score or how much time is left can be considered as a mitigating factor as they don't contribute to the rule breaking.
It's well documented now what the options are if the objection is upheld, which I think it has to be given the video evidence and general acceptance of the extra players being on the pitch for the final play. Both teams are entitled to have the rules applied fairly.
In my opinion, this was probably accidental on KC's part. But that doesn't matter.
Officials could have managed it at the time and made it a non issue, but didn't, and so have let down both teams.
It would be unfair to fine KC for an error from officials, though I'd guess they'd happily take a fine over a replay - but that's a dangerous precedent to set for this type of problem.
It would be unfair on KC to reverse the result and I dont think Glen would want it reversed that way either, but I'm not sure what the circumstances are that require a reversal of the result.
I think a replay is the least worst option, it gives both teams another bite at it and preserves the integrity of the rules going forward.
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