Here are the main items that was on the agenda at last Saturday's meeting of the GAA's Central Council...

1. Antrim motion passed at Congress re admission of Christy Ring Cup winners to Liam MacCarthy Cup in same year

As instructed by Central Council at its previous meeting, the C.C.C.C met with Leinster Council and Antrim to discuss the practical implications of the Antrim motion for the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championships, as passed at Congress 2016, which provides for the inclusion of the Christy Ring Cup winners in the quarter-finals of the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship.
There was acceptance at the meeting that Antrim's goal (of ensuring the Ring Cup Winners could be included in the MacCarthy Cup in the same year as their winning of the competition) could be most effectively achieved by providing access directly to the 1st Round of the Liam MacCarthy Qualifiers, rather than into the Leinster quarter-finals as well. Central Council endorsed that view and agreed on Saturday to defer the implementation of the motion passed at Congress to allow for a new motion sponsored by Central Council to be brought to Congress in February 2017.
This new motion will ask that the Christy Ring Cup winners (from Championship 2017 onwards) be included in a Preliminary Round game in the All-Ireland Qualifiers, where they would be drawn against one of the losers of the three Leinster Hurling Championship quarter finals. Provision will be made for such a Preliminary Round qualifier when the 2017 Master Fixtures schedule is being prepared.

2. London's Allianz League fixtures in 2017

Central Council agreed to a request from London County Committee that in 2017 - while works are being completed on the redevelopment of Ruislip - they be permitted to play all of their Allianz league games (in both Hurling and Football) AWAY from home on the understanding that all of their Allianz league games in 2018 will be played at home.

3. Special U-17 Championships in Hurling and Football in 2017

From January 1st 2018, inter-county minor competitions in football and hurling will be played at U-17 rather than U-18 level. These competitions will be run in the summer months and played alongside the All-Ireland Senior Hurling and Football championships (as currently).
To accommodate players who are currently playing at U-16 level (2016) and who would be overage for the new minor competitions in 2018 (and would therefore miss out on the opportunity to play "Minor" for their county), Central Council had previously decided to play U-17 Championships in Football and Hurling in 2017, alongside the inter-county Minor championships.
At Saturday's meeting, it was confirmed that these U-17 championships will be organised on a provincial basis as per the existing Minor championships, with the winner in each province going through to the All-Ireland semi-finals (no quarter-finals). All games will be played to a finish on the day i.e. mandatory extra time followed by free taking to ensure a conclusive result.

The finals in both football and hurling will be played in Croke Park in August in conjunction with major games in the All-Ireland Senior championships. It has been left to the discretion of each county as to whether players may be selected for both U-17 and U-18 teams.

4. "The Mark" - Applicable 1 January 2017 - to be experimented with in Third Level Competitions 2016

Following discussion involving the Chairperson and Secretary of The Standing Committee on Playing Rules, the Chairperson and Secretary of the Referees Development Committee and several inter-county football referees, a number of queries/requests for Interpretation arose in relation to the implementation of the new Playing rule with regard to the "Mark" (Text of Rule below): Central Council made the following Interpretations on the implementation of the rule at its meeting on Saturday as follows:

• The Referee shall award the "Mark" by blowing the whistle.

• On or past the 45m line" shall mean that both feet of the catcher are on or past the 45m line when he catches the ball or on landing.

• In order to signify that he wishes to take a free-kick the player who catches the ball and has been awarded a "Mark" by the Referee should stop playing. If he does not obviously stop then it should be taken that he is "Playing on".

• Challenged" as mentioned in the rule is taken as "tackle" as defined; once the player plays on he may be tackled after four steps or once he plays the ball in any way.

It also agreed that in order to be awarded a "Mark" the ball must not have been touched in flight by another player and that when a player who is awarded a "Mark" is injured then any team mate may take the free kick, which must be taken from the hands, and the player in question may not score directly from the kick. (Current rule states that only the "nearest team mate" may take the free kick).

The new Rule will be experimented with in Division 1 of the Comhairle Ardoideachais Football Leagues commencing in October 2016 with National Panel Referees taking charge of the games.

Rule per Official Guide 2016, Part II:

2.12 Mark

When a player catches the ball cleanly from a Kick-Out without it touching the ground, on or past the 45m line nearest the Kick-Out point, he shall be awarded a 'Mark' by the Referee.

The player awarded a 'Mark' shall have the options of (a) Taking a free kick or (b) Playing on immediately.

The following procedures shall apply:

(a) Free Kick

The player shall signify to the Referee if he is availing of the free kick and then take the free kick himself from the hand from the point where he was awarded the 'Mark'.

Once the player indicates he is taking the 'Mark', the Referee shall allow up to five seconds for the player to take the kick. If the player delays longer than five seconds, the Referee shall cancel the 'Mark' and throw in the ball between a player from each side.

Once the player indicates he is taking the 'Mark', the opposing players must retreat 10m to allow the player space to take the kick. If an opposing player deliberately blocks or attempts to block the kick within 10m, or if an opposing player impedes the player while he is taking the kick, the Referee shall penalise the opposing team by bringing the ball forward 13m.

If the Referee determines that the player who makes the 'Mark' has been injured in the process and is unable to take the kick, the Referee shall direct the Player's nearest team mate to take the kick but he may not score directly from the kick.

(b) Play on immediately

(i) In this circumstance the player may not be challenged for the ball until he carries the ball up to a maximum of four consecutive steps or holds the ball for no longer than the time needed to take four steps and/or makes one act of kicking, hand-passing, bouncing or toe-tapping the ball.

(ii) If the Player is illegally challenged, a free kick shall be awarded to his team from the point at which the challenge is made, and this free kick may be taken by any player on his team.

5. Use of scoreboard clocks

A uniform policy on the use of scoreboard clocks was agreed at Saturday's meeting. Most venues allow the clock to run until the referee sounds the half-time or full-time whistle, while some stop the clock when the 35 minute or 70 minute mark has been reached. It was agreed that, in future, the clock will run until the referee blows the half-time or full-time whistle.

 

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