LAST UPDATE | 31 Jan 2023
WHITE SMOKE FINALLY emerged from Croke Park on Tuesday, after nine days of radio silence from HQ.
The GAA’s CCCC have ordered the All-Ireland Club final between Kilmacud Crokes and Glen to be replayed.
On the surface, it is straightforward. A rule was broken. The GAA’s laws explicitly provide for the infraction in question. And the relevant remedy has been triggered.
However, a sour taste remains. The length of time taken to reach a verdict allowed the controversy to snowball into the biggest Irish sports story of the week.
Granted, the GAA top brass prefer to do their business behind closed doors. Director general Tom Ryan was praised in the wake of the ‘Newbridge or Nowhere’ debacle for rolling up his sleeves in the background and getting all stakeholders around the table.
But the ambiguity which lingered here was far from satisfactory to all parties involved. Add in the fact that Glen were backed into a corner to make a complaint – when the GAA should not require an objection from one of their units to enforce their own rules – and it is far messier an affair than it ought to have been.
A replay has been ordered, but the boardrooms of Croke Park have not heard the last of this. The Stillorgan club will likely appeal the decision before the Central Hearing Committee, while it could go as far as the Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA).
For the sake of this not spiralling further out of control, the GAA will hope that Kilmacud accept the final ruling from the powers that be.
Should they forfeit the Andy Merrigan Cup rather than fulfilling the replay, the sorry saga will go down as an administrative car crash.
One suspects that any appetite for a replay that may have existed around the club has steadily diminished, now that the trophy has settled in the southside suburbs of the capital for over a week now.
While an asterisk has been over Kilmacud’s triumph since referee Derek O’Mahoney’s final whistle last week, should Glen be awarded the title through a stand-off, the entire affair would go down as an utter mess.
Ultimately, a replay feels like the fairest outcome. It is impossible to say that Crokes having 16 players on the field did not have an impact on the end result.
Replays have been ordered for less or similar by the GAA: Offaly v Clare in the 1998 All-Ireland SHC semi-final when the game was blown up two minutes early, Meath v Antrim in the 2016 Christy Ring final when the final score had mistakenly been tallied incorrectly, and Laois vs Armagh in the 2016 All-Ireland SFC qualifiers when the O’Moore County had made a seventh substitution.
But does that make it any easier for Kilmacud Crokes to accept? For a player to battle for over 70 minutes, lift the trophy and enjoy celebrations over the week, is there really an appetite to go back to square one?
Should they surrender the title in a boardroom, memories of the past week will live forever, regardless of whether an asterisked record book bears contradiction.
On the other hand, there may be an inclination within the panel to remove all doubt. And nobody could question the validity of their triumph if they played and won a replay.
Should Kilmacud accept the verdict, the next headache facing the GAA is finding a date for the replay.
With the Sigerson Cup in full swing and the football league underway, space is already at a premium.
The two most plausible dates which would allow the teams adequate preparation time are the weekend of 11/12 March – a break weekend in the Allianz football league – or the traditional slot of St Patrick’s Day.
Player availability is the next issue. It would require co-operation from the Derry, Dublin and Galway camps to release the inter-county footballers involved.
Meanwhile, many club players are either currently abroad or have travel plans in the coming weeks; entirely understandable for amateurs off the back of a lengthy club campaign.
Regardless of what direction the episode takes from here, there are undoubtedly lessons to be learned.
Speed is of the essence when it comes to making decisions, and media commentary can have a profound impact if the controversy is given oxygen.
It has also shone a light on the substitutions process. Dara Mullin’s reluctance to go off was understandable. If he abandoned his position on the goal-line and trotted off the field without his replacement taking his spot, and Glen had taken the ’45 quickly, it would have been criticised as a naive move.
It was up to the officials to ensure that the transition takes places smoothly, and the substitute is in position before play resumes.
Do not be surprised to see the GAA tidy up the regulations around substitutions off the back of this.
But for now, all eyes are fixed on whether Kilmacud Crokes will accept a replay.
Regardless, this entire episode will go down in the annals of the great GAA controversies. And there are plenty more twists and turns ahead.