Gaelic Games: The GAA's Central Disciplinary Committee has dealt firmly with the Dublin and Tyrone players charged in the aftermath of the counties' NFL fixture in Omagh two weeks ago.

A number of lengthy suspensions have been handed down and both county boards have been fined €10,000 and severely warned as to the future conduct of their teams. The CDC met on Saturday and issued their decision yesterday.

Players were charged with discrediting the association under Rule 140 and Rule 138 (c), a range of sending-off offences, excluding the most serious - ie striking with the head, kicking or stamping.

Dublin had five players charged and they were dealt with as follows: Brian Cullen was suspended for four weeks in accordance with Rule 138 (c) whereas his team-mates Ciarán Whelan, Kevin Bonner and Alan Brogan were all suspended for eight weeks in accordance with Rule 140. Peadar Andrews was issued with a severe warning as to his future conduct.

The most significant aspect of this is that Cullen's ban is competition specific, as suspensions up to four weeks do not prohibit a player from playing for other teams. This frees the player to represent his university DCU in the coming weekend's Sigerson Cup.

Meanwhile, Tyrone's players shared much the same fate. Michael McGee was suspended for eight weeks in accordance with Rule 140. Owen Mulligan and Kevin Hughes were suspended for four weeks in accordance with Rule 138 (c) and eight weeks in accordance with Rule 140 to run concurrently. Ryan McMenamin was cleared of the charge under Rule 140 whereas team doctor Dr Séamus Cassidy was issued with a severe warning as to his future conduct.

Indications are that both teams will appeal the suspensions to the Central Appeals Committee but there was no immediate official response to that effect. All players concerned had asked for personal hearings and all except Mulligan made an appearance at Saturday's meeting. Tyrone manager Mickey Harte represented his players whereas Dublin Central Council delegate and solicitor Gerry Brady represented the county's players.

The charges had been brought by a sub-committee of the CDC who had reviewed video evidence of the match, which featured a number of brawls and general indiscipline.

There was privately expressed surprise in the Dublin camp that Cassidy escaped with a warning given that he was felt to have been centrally involved in the altercation with Brogan that led to the sideline brawl.

The eight-week suspensions will run from the time of the players' last match and will rule the players out of the remainder of the regulation National League matches.

Meanwhile, GAA president Seán Kelly has said that the association's disciplinary processes were now getting on top of the problem and defended the CDC against charges that their deliberations had taken too long, pointing to the pressure on the committee from the new dispute resolution body, the DRA.

"The CDC dealt with this as swiftly as possible and made their decision firmly and fairly according to rule. They were very careful last year but still got over-ruled by the DRA. It would be great if everyone simply took their medicine like John Mullane (Waterford hurler who refused to go to court to challenge a suspension) a couple of years ago instead of looking around for loopholes but that's the way it is and so the CDC has to be very careful about due process and procedure.

"I think the message is getting through. We've reformed the system, which up until last year was dependent on getting the right people involved in the disciplinary process. Now we have an appointed committee, who know what they're at and I think we're on the right road to getting a proper and consistent system.

"There's not too many hiding places left for off-the-ball offences or procedural appeals once the loopholes are closed. The tradition has been that you stood a good chance of escape if you had someone who knew the rules inside out. Many successful appeals have been based not on the facts of a case or on the harshness of a suspension but on technicalities and that has to change."