RTÉ has said that though the purpose of its match coverage is to broadcast the games, its recordings are available to Croke Park should the GAA authorities wish to investigate charges of indiscipline

There have been charges of inconsistency against the broadcaster on the grounds that whereas Cork footballer Noel O'Leary had a red-card offence highlighted on television the previous week, alleged foul play by players in Sunday's Dublin-Kerry All-Ireland semi-final didn't attract anything like the same coverage.

"If an incident doesn't end up on air," according to the Sunday Game's Michael Lyster, "it won't be part of the highlights. When an off-the-ball incident takes place we try and rewind the tape from the relevant camera to see if it reveals anything. If not, there's nothing to go out on air.

"The purpose of the coverage is to show the games but we will also broadcast incidents that arise during the course of the game. Nobody's interested in trial by television and we weren't out to nail Noel O'Leary, merely to show what happened in a particular incident. If there's something there we broadcast it but if there isn't we don't go back over all the tapes to see if we missed anything."

Asked if the Central Competitions Control Committee would be free to review tapes from different camera angles, Lyster said: "The Croke Park authorities would of course have access to tapes if they wished."

Meanwhile, National Referees Committee spokesperson Fr Séamus Gardiner has defended Sunday's match referee John Bannon against criticism, saying that The Sunday Game panel had on review, supported most of the close calls made by the Longford official. "There was a perception that John may have been hard on Kerry but after watching the video of the game again, Dara (Ó Cinnéide) agreed that some of the frees he felt were doubtful were in fact frees. Pat Spillane summed it up when he asked the panellists if they felt that John did okay and they said yes.

"It was a difficult game to referee and a lot of stuff was going on. They were arguing on The Sunday Game that the yellow cards frustrated the players but I would argue that they quietened the players and the game finished with 30 players on the field.

"No referee does more thinking on his own game than John Bannon. He studies it and he is a great thinker on the rules and on the game itself. He contributes to our refereeing sessions and he's a very upright guy."

RTÉ also announced yesterday that Sunday's live coverage of the All-Ireland semi-final between Dublin and Kerry attracted an audience that peaked at 876,000.

Eighty two per cent of people who were watching television on Sunday afternoon tuned in to RTÉ Two to see Kerry's victory. An average of 644,000 people watched the coverage, resulting in an average share of 69.3 per cent. Later that evening, RTÉ's The Sunday Game highlights programme attracted the record audience for this season with an average of 307,000 viewers watching the programme.

Elsewhere, the GAA is mourning the untimely passing of two prominent footballers. Former Dublin senior Tom Mulligan, who played for the county during the 2003 championship, died suddenly on Sunday night at the age of 30. He had been a member of Good Counsel, Ballinteer St John's and Round Towers Clondalkin.

As a mark of respect this morning's Gaelic Players Association media announcement has been postponed.

In Laois, 2001 All-Ireland women's football medallist Lulu Carroll also passed away at the age of 35. A member of the Timahoe club, she was also a former All Star and although retired, served this year as a selector for the current Laois team.

Earlier this year she was a recipient of the GAA president's award on St Patrick's Day in Croke Park.

Meanwhile, Kilkenny goalkeeper PJ Ryan has returned to training for the first time since breaking his arm against Wexford in the All-Ireland semi-final but still faces a race against time to be fully fit for Sunday's final.

Ryan was allowed to participate in half of last Saturday's squad session by team medics but team selector Martin Fogarty revealed the player has had to contend with a complication when a six-inch wound from an operation to insert a metal plate in his arm became infected. But Fogarty confirmed Ryan lined out during an A v B game and was strong enough to take puck-outs. "He looked decent all things considered but we'll have to wait a day or two to see how the injury reacts," he said.

There is still a question mark over full back Noel Hickey's availability as he recovers from a hamstring injury.

The replay of Sunday's drawn All-Ireland minor football semi-final between Derry and Laois will take place in Páirc Tailteann, Navan this Saturday at 6pm.