Kildare's slender hopes of drafting in Niall Buckley through an 11th hour appeal to Croke Park were snuffed out yesterday after Croke Park found that the midfielder could not play for his American Gaelic leagues as well as the All-Ireland championship.
Buckley, currently resident in Chicago, decided he could not fly home to line out for the county because of rule 41D (Section C), which would have prevented him returning to play with Chicago club St Brendan's. While Kildare made an appeal on the basis that the by-law applied purely to players returning for club games, Croke Park found that it was relevant for inter-county fare also.
Meanwhile, the Games Administration Committee (GAC) remains tight-lipped regarding the possible outcome of the controversies regarding Derry's Eamon Coleman and Cork manager Larry Tompkins.
It had been anticipated that Coleman could face censure over his remarks about Longford referee John Bannon prior to the Ulster semi-final while Tompkins may face a suspension following his verbal altercation with referee Mick Curley during the Munster semi-final in Killarney.
It is probable that both cases were discussed at Wednesday night's GAC meeting, as the Coleman comments were made almost a fortnight ago and Curley's report having certainly reached Croke Park ahead of the meeting.
If either manager is found to have a case to answer, normal protocol is for either or both to be called before the GAC at the next meeting.
A number of suspensions were sanctioned at the Wednesday convention. Derry hurler Emmet McKeever received a 12 week ban as a result of an incident during the championship game against Down (the suspension dates to June 11th). Noel Sands of Down was given an eight week suspension as a result of an incident in the same game.
Mayo forward James Horan was given a month following his dismissal during the Connacht championship match against Sligo (also dating back to June 11th) and Keith Murray of New York was also given four weeks, from an incident arising during the championship match against Galway.
