Sin-bin to return as Central Council approve rule changes

THE sin-bin will return to Gaelic football during next year’s Allianz League campaign as the GAA’s Central Council yesterday gave the green light to the proposed rule changes put forward by the Standing Playing Rules Committee.

The introduction of the sinbin, the restricted use of the hand-pass, the offensive mark, the sideline kick going forward and an amended version of the kick-out proposal which will see all kick-outs from the 20-metre line were all passed.

It means that during next year’s National League, the ball must be kicked after a team makes three successive hand-passes while any sideline kick must also go forward, rather than backwards.

If the experimental rules are deemed a success, they may come into effect for the 2020 football Championship.

Meanwhile, GAA matches that end level after extratime will from next year be settled by a penalty shootout, rather than a free-taking competition.

The GAA have also announced that there has been broad support for the introduction of a second tier football Championship and the format that this will take will be discussed at January’s meeting of Central Council to allow a motion to proceed to Congress the following month.

It was also agreed that provincial champions will have home advantage for their first games in next year’s Super 8s, with all phase two games being played in Croke Park. Both Donegal and Kerry have queried the idea of Dublin getting two Super 8s games at headquarters, as they did last year.

Next year’s groups for the All-Ireland quarter-finals will see the Leinster and Connacht champions in one group, and the Munster and Ulster winners in the other group.

Central Council also proposed changes to the make-up of the hurling League, with Division 1 divided into two groups. In group A, there will be the first and fourth placed teams in next year’s Division 1A as well as the winner of the relegation play-off and the second and third placed teams in next year’s 1B.

In Group B, there will be the second and third-placed teams in next year’s 1A, the loser of the relegation playoff as well as the first, fourth and fifth-placed teams in next year’s 1B.

The groups will be run on a two-year cycle with relegation from 2020 onwards to be decided by a play-off between the bottom team in each group.

The first-placed teams in each group will advanced directly to League semifinals while the second and third placed teams in each group will meet in quarterfinals.