BAN them for life say's Paraic Duffy

BAN them for life -- that's the hardline stance proposed by director general Paraic Duffy for players who commit serious offences on the GAA's playing fields.

Acknowledging that the GAA had "serious issues of indiscipline to address", Duffy said they had a duty to ensure that penalties were adequate to act as a real deterrent.

"A player who strikes an opponent a deliberate foul blow off the ball, inflicting serious injury, deserves more than a 16-week suspension," he said. "A much stiffer penalty would be more appropriate.

"I believe we should make more use of the rule which allows disciplinary committees to have due regard for the gravity of the infraction and to impose a penalty of up to 96 weeks or, in exceptionally serious cases, debarment from playing."

Disciplinary issues feature prominently in his annual report, which he launched yesterday, and he also expressed forthright views on a wide range of other issues, including the state of Gaelic football.

He believes that the foul count remains far too high and remains concerned that the game is not reaching its full potential. Experimental rules, designed to eradicate negative play, were trialled a few years ago but didn't receive the required two-thirds majority to be passed at Congress. Duffy believes that has hindered the development of Gaelic football.

"The average foul count is still far too high and the negative features remain in Gaelic football, which is detracting from the game for players and spectators," he said.

"Add in the negative features of the mass-defence system now being employed by many teams, the emphasis placed on heavy tackling through two-handed pushes to the chest and the swarming around the player in possession and there is a real and imminent danger that football is developing into a less attractive spectacle."

Duffy wants Congress to reconsider the 2009 proposals on disciplinary playing rules with a view to making the game more attractive and easier to referee. "I believe that football has yet to realise its full potential as a game in the way that hurling has," he said.
http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/gaa-chief-looking-for-harder-stance-on-indiscipline-3051126.html