"I can't understand why they are still at it - it's extraordinary"
February 09, 2016
Cork's Brian O'Driscoll is black carded by referee Maurice Deegan
Eugene McGee is flabbergasted that the number of black cards being handed out continues to rise.
For the third successive year, the incidences of black cards brandished in the first two rounds of the national football league have increased and McGee - who chaired the Football Review Committee, which recommended the introduction of the controversial card - can't understand why players continue to engage in cynical fouling:
"The black cards are more obvious this year than last," he told The Irish Examiner. "Roughly speaking, it seems every team has one so far. I believe there are a number of factors like referees making a more conscious effort to implement the black card than before.
"The weather has obviously played a role and at this early stage of the season; there is a lack of fitness and fellas are more inclined to make desperate tackles.
"But the number of cards, it appears, are going up again and you would really have to question the attitude of these players who make these fouls. Many of them are top players too.
"I can't understand why they are still at it. It's extraordinary. Surely to God managers would be telling them that it pays more not to go off ?"
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