Dublin GAA CEO John Costello has advocated the replacement of the GAA's controversial black card with the introduction of a sin bin.

Writing in his annual report to next week’s county convention, Costello questioned the fairness of the current sanction, which sees a player deemed to have committed a cynical foul - one of five listed infractions - ordered off the field but replaced by another and described it as causing “huge frustration among players and public”.

Citing incidents from this year's All-Ireland football final and replay, during which Dublin's James McCarthy and Jonny Cooper and Mayo's Lee Keegan were black-carded, Costello argues that players - on both sides - guilty of worse infractions had not been disciplined.

“Is dismissal on borderline cases - and we saw quite a lot of them this year - fair on players? No it is not. Is there a better way of dealing with the matter? That’s the big question but just because there’s no easy answer doesn’t mean the pursuit of a workable solution should not be undertaken.”

The sin bin, similar to rugby’s in sending a player off for 10 minutes without replacement, was trialled a decade ago by the GAA and not adopted.

“Was,” asks Costello, “the ‘sin bin’ option discarded without getting proper consideration? It came in for criticism when trialled some years ago but that’s no reason not to reconsider it now.

“It works perfectly well in rugby where players are sent off for 10 minutes. I have no doubt that if our footballers were asked to choose between a 10 minute ‘sin bin’ and a permanent black card dismissal, they would choose the former.

“Obviously, players cannot be allowed to decide the rules but, on an issue like this, their input would be helpful. Being a man down for 10 minutes would punish a team and would also be real deterrent against cynical fouling. In fact, it would probably be harder on a team than losing a player on a black card and having him replaced.

“However, it would - and this is a key point - be fairer on players. Seeing a player sent off on a borderline black card offence is disappointing. And if the last three seasons taught us anything it is this - the rule is causing huge frustration among players and public alike.

“The motivations behind its introduction were sound but the punishment is questionable, especially when there may be a better alternative in the form of a ‘sin bin’. Of course, there may be some other ideas too so, at the very least, let’s have a discussion about them. We owe it to the players and to Gaelic football in general.”