This would be a big change. We could see the introduction of penalty shootouts in the All-Ireland Football and Hurling Championships this summer, as Central Council seeks to cut down on the amount of replays.
According to the Irish Independent, the rule could be implemented at congress in Wexford next month, where it will need a 60 per cent majority in order to be pushed through. Some of the matches that would be affected by the proposal include All-Ireland preliminary hurling quarter-finals and All-Ireland football qualifiers. Replays of provincial championships games would also be decided by the new system should they still be deadlocked after extra time of a replay.
Penalty shootouts have been used in pre-season competitions this year, with Mayo playing in two such contests against Leitrim and Galway.
We have seen the use of free taking competitions in third level competitions in the past, but the penalty shootout now seems to have usurped those as the preferred method of finding a definitive winner. In theory, the move may also provide underdogs with a greater chance of pulling off an upset, as we usually see the more fancied team advance from the replay after a drawn game.
While some GAA purists will not like the idea of the tie breaker, they seem a like necessary evil at this point. We have seen far too many replays in inter-county competition in recent times, especially at a time of year when the fixtures come thick and fast such as the qualifiers. Its introduction would leave no uncertainty as to fixture dates, which players and management teams would no doubt be in favour of.
Penalty shootouts have proven a success so far, and one could only imagine the sense of anticipation involved in such a scenario during a do or die Championship outing.
