Jim McGuinness took the naming of a dummy team to another level on September 21st this year. Both Christy Toye and Paddy McBrearty were in the starting 15 announced to the crowd at Croke Park for the All-Ireland Final. When the Donegal side lined up for the national anthem though, Rory Kavanagh and Darach O'Connor had taken their places.
The GAA has today announced some measures to deal with this.
Here's the GAA press release on the matter:
Central Council will bring a motion to Congress in February which will seek to require that a playing panel of 26 players be registered for all senior inter-county championship games by 9.00am on the Thursday before a game. With the exception of a replacement for a goalkeeper or sub-goalkeeper, no changes can be made to the registered list. The penalty for including a player not included on the registered list will be forfeiture of game. Teams will also be required to submit their starting team to the referee and to committee-in-charge at least 20 minutes before throw-in. The penalty for starting a player not on that list will also be loss of game.
Of course, a team differing to the one announced in the days before a game can still be named, it just can't be done less than 20 minutes before throw-in.
The GAA also say that the installation of Hawkeye at Semple Stadium in Thurles and the re-developed Casement Park in Belfast and Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork is a priority.
Picture credit: Dáire Brennan / SPORTSFILE
