THE INCONSISTENCIES in the GAA disciplinary system were further highlighted by the recent Ryan McMenamin case. Players who receive match bans become immediately aware of the sanction’s severity, but under the current system, a suspension ranging from four weeks can, when considering the fixture list, result in a situation whereby the punishment is not always commensurate with the transgression.

Last year, the chairman of the Central Competitions Control Committee Jimmy Dunne admitted to being hamstrung by the current system and thereby advocated a switch to match suspensions.

Dunne’s committee is the first port of call in the GAA disciplinary system. They decide whether a player has transgressed and then recommend a suspension. If the player refuses to accept this, he goes to the Central Hearings Committee, the appeals committee, and then moving outside the parameters of the internal system, on to the Disputes Resolution Authority.

McMenamin is meeting an appeals committee tonight seeking a reduction in the eight-week suspension imposed after the initial six-weeks punishment was increased by the CHC. The Tyrone defender believes four weeks is sufficient punishment for making contact with Kerry footballer Paul Galvin’s groin area during the NFL game in Omagh on February 15th.

The difference between a four- and an eight-week ban, in this case, is three games.

“There is a match ban, to a point, at present, in that a player who receives a red card misses the next game in that competition, depending on when it is,” said Dunne.

“There is a possibility of looking at match bans in future but we have to give the experimental rules a full chance to succeed and can’t have a haemorrhage of change during this period.”

This means the chances of match bans being properly debated ahead of the 2010 annual Congress are slim.

“It may look like a more easy option but with the new yellow card system currently being trialled, it has opened up a new avenue in the process. If a player gets a yellow card he can appeal its severity on the basis that two yellows lead to a match ban.

“For now, it may be down the road that such an idea is something to consider. It is frustrating that a person gets away with a lighter ban because of the time of year or by missing a not very serious match. There may be a better way to do it.”

Kilkenny hurler Eddie Brennan contests a four-week suspension arising from the recent National Hurling League match against Waterford tonight but his opponent in that encounter who was red-carded, Séamus Prendergast, has accepted the eight-week ban handed down by the CCCC.

The Kerry and Tyrone county boards also have hearings tonight as they dispute the fines arising out of the fractious Omagh game.