Video evidence may be used in Forde case

GAELIC GAMES/Wexford Football: The GAA has confirmed video evidence will be available for use in the Matty Forde case should it be required. Forde was seen stamping on Offaly's prone Shane Sullivan during last Sunday's Leinster senior football championship semi-final at Croke Park.

The incident wasn't dealt with by Donegal referee Jimmy White, who appeared not to notice what had happened. The question was raised on RTÉ's Sunday Game, panellist Paul Curran expressing the view that, as previous fouls captured on camera had gone unpunished, it would be unfair to suspend Forde.

According, however, to John O'Reilly - chair of the Central Hearings Committee - which until next January is discharging the duties of the old Central Disciplinary Committee, the issue of video evidence will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

"We take the question of video evidence according to the merits of each case. I haven't seen this incident on television yet, but before there's any question of watching video evidence we have to consider the referee's report and see what he says about the situation. Often the report clears up matters like this and it will be our first point of entry.

"After that, it's a question of whether the ref saw it and, if he did, did he deal with it? If he tells us he dealt with the situation that's the end of the matter, as it has to be because we would be in big trouble if we didn't support referees in decisions like this."

Up until last year the GAA's disciplinary committees were allowed to base charges on video evidence regardless of how the referee dealt with the matter.

In practice, only the body chaired by Páraic Duffy between 2000-03 exercised the power to overrule yellow cards if the committee deemed that the offence was sufficiently grave to deserve dismissal.

Under the terms of the Dispute Resolution Committee decision nearly a year ago, it was established on legal grounds that a referee's decision to deal with an incident of foul play could not be overturned, regardless of whether the official had been right.

In the Forde case the referee didn't discipline the player, suggesting that the CHC will be entitled to revisit the incident and consider charges based on what the camera saw.

Paul Curran's argument was based on a recent incident in the DerryDonegal Ulster championship match in which Derry's Enda Muldoon was shown a red card after striking opponent Paddy Campbell, who was later seen on camera to have provoked Muldoon by grabbing him by the groin. Yet, no action was taken by the CHC.

According to O'Reilly, that doesn't constitute a precedent. "The committee decided that in the case of Paddy Campbell, the referee's attention was drawn to the incident by an umpire and that he had dealt with the situation as presented to him.

"We decided in those circumstances not to revisit it. We don't know until the referee's report arrives what the position is concerning Sunday's game."

Meanwhile, in Wexford, callers to South East Radio were critical of the county's star player - Footballer of the Year in 2004 - but Forde was defended by county chair Seán Quirke, who said on air: "I assume the referee did not see the incident, or if he did saw nothing intentional.

"It was an accidental clash with nothing intentional in Matty's actions. The Offaly player was not seriously injured, got up, and played out the remainder of the game. If it's a case of Matty having to defend himself before the Croke Park authorities we will support him."

O'Reilly conceded that the current situation with the new disciplinary apparatus in cold storage until the beginning of next year was unsatisfactory.

"There are a lot of legal considerations. Once the new system comes in it will be easier for us to deal with the whole area of video evidence."

When operational, that new system will provide for one body - the Central Competitions Control Committee - to deal with uncontested disciplinary cases arising from the referee's report and also to investigate incidents not dealt with by the match official.

O'Reilly's CHC will then have a quasi-judicial function, simply to hear the cases.