FIGHTING BACK!
Mayo club to appeal being thrown out of county championship
ALL-IRELAND ladies club football champions Carnacon are to appeal against the decision that has seen them kicked out of the Mayo championship.
In disqualifying their champions, the Mayo board sent shockwaves through the ladies game nationwide, but the club is determined to fight back.
‘The decision to appeal it has to be in in five working days and that is the course of action we are taking,’ Carnacon club secretary Beatrice Casey told Sportsmail.
The decision to throw Carnacon out of the championship is rooted in the row which rocked the county panel earlier in the summer when 10 players and two selectors left the county set-up, citing ‘player welfare issues that are personal and sensitive to the players involved’.
The Mayo executive, in the aftermath of the player exodus, subsequently issued a statement declaring its ‘full support’ for county manager Peter Leahy.
Eight of the 10 players who withdrew were from Carnacon — including the game’s most celebrated talent, Cora Staunton — but no action has been taken against the clubs of the other two players.
The reason for that is the board have invoked Rule 288, which states: ‘Any member of
From Back Pagethe Association found guilty of conduct calculated to bring the Association into disrepute shall be liable to expulsion or suspension by the Committee, Board or Council concerned.’ It is the county board’s contention that Carnacon instructed their players to withdraw from the panel, which has paved the way for the club to be hit with the ultimate sanction. But the club is adamant that they were left with ‘no choice’ in the circumstances. ‘The club had no choice but to step in in light of everything that was going on. After all the work and effort that has gone into our club over the past 20 years and to see this is how we are treated is so disappointing,’ said Casey. Carnacon were scheduled to play their next match against Knockmore on September 14, but if the board’s decision stands then their players will not play any more football — they are also suspended from the league — for the remainder of the season. ‘It is ridiculous that our girls who love playing this game are not being allowed to,’ said Casey. ‘We are trying to prepare for a county final and this decision is obviously damaging to our preparations. ‘It is our intention is to go back and defend our AllIreland title,’ she added.