A number of inter-county GAA teams have been punished for breaches of coronavirus restrictions banning team training in recent weeks, with Monaghan the latest county to be be sanctioned by the association.
The punishments handed out have been consistent across the board, with a 12-week ban for the managers of the teams and the forfeiting of home advantage in the upcoming national leagues.
Some feel this is a fair judgement, but the argument could also be made that these teams have lost out on very little by breaking the rules. Dessie Dolan believes that is the case.
Speaking on RTÉ's Saturday Sport, the former All-Star winner said the GAA's punishments for these obvious infractions are likely to have little impact.
The GAA do have an issue. It's very hard to manage this when individual counties are trying to take advantage of it.
In relation to how GAA operate and how it was around county final time, we let ourselves down. We must look in the mirror and say we let ourselves down in this...
Is the risk worth the punishment?
In all of this, the three-month suspension won't have a major impact on the preparation of the teams, and I suppose that is where the GAA need to look at their punishments in terms of what they're doing, because talking about losing home venues when it is only three games in the league is not a major implication...
I was talking to one of my friends that plays county football and he was saying, 'you'd almost feel a bit silly'. If you're not training, if you're not keeping up to speed, are you missing out?
All it is is your manager is going to get suspended. That is what the GAA need to look at - is their suspension rigorous enough?
This conversation has probably come a little bit too late in the day, with inter-county teams permitted to return to training later this month.
SEE ALSO: Jim Gavin: Gaelic Football One Rule Change From Becoming Aussie Rules
