GAA chiefs discuss introduction of TMO/VAR
THE GAA have taken the first tentative step towards introducing a television match official (TMO) as it was discussed for the first time at yesterday’s Central Council meeting.
There have been numerous calls over the past few years for the Association to introduce their own version of VAR, most recently last weekend when O’Loughlin Gaels appeared to be denied a legitimate goal in the first-half of the All-Ireland club final only for neither umpire to signal for the score.
GAA president Larry McCarthy asked Michelle Bennett, from the referees’ development group, to head a new committee, which includes former intercounty refs Johnny Ryan and Maurice Deegan, to produce a report on how technology could assist match officials. Central Council heard their preliminary report yesterday, although they stopped short of recommending a TMO.
Meanwhile, the GAA are set to close the glaring, and absurd, loophole that allows a red-carded player to be replaced in extra-time. Central Council agreed to submit a motion to next month’s Congress in Newry to end that practice of teams returning to full complement for extra-time if they had someone sent off during normal time. The motion will also propose that yellow cards carry over into extratime. So, if a player receives a second yellow in extra-time he will be sent off.
June’s All-Ireland under-20 final will be played at UPMC Nowlan Park to mark the centenary of James Nowlan’s death. He was the GAA’s longestserving president, holding office from 1901 to 1921, and was also the first chairman of the Leinster GAA Council. Also at the meeting, former Offaly hurler Rory Hanniffy was reappointed as secretary of the Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA).