Lengthy suspensions have been handed down by the Games Administration Committee (GAC) following the brawl in the Sligo-Cavan National Football League match last Sunday week. Cavan players Rory Donoghue and Larry Reilly received 12 and eight weeks respectively, while Sligo's Ken Killeen and Paul Durcan also received 12 and eight weeks.

As Donoghue and Killeen were sent off during the match - and reported for striking and kicking respectively - their suspensions run from the date of the match, November 26th. Reilly and Durcan - both cited for striking - will serve their punishments from the beginning of next February. This is in line with the GAA's new disciplinary provisions which dictate that December and January do not count for the purposes of playing bans.

It means that, aside from the four days served by Donoghue and Killeen at the end of November, their bans only kick in February, so they will not be eligible until the end of April, by which stage the league will be over and the championship nearly upon us.

Also, both county boards were fined £1,500 over the melee.

The Sligo County Board chairman, Joe Queenan, said that, while not condoning violence, he felt the eight-week ban on centrefielder Durcan was "a bit harsh". The whole incident near the end of the match was "an embarrassment to the association", Queenan said.

Other suspensions included four weeks for John McCafferty of Donegal, for striking with the fist in the match against Louth. Stephen Melia, of Louth, also sent off, has requested an oral hearing.

The GAC has also defended its decision not to grant Kerry a postponement of its football league match with Dublin. The match, which goes ahead this Saturday in Tralee, has greatly inconvenienced Kerry as the county has a number of divisional finals down for resolution on the same day. As a result, they field a severely under-strength team.

GAC chairman Padraig Duffy says that his committee had no real choice. "Before the league started, we sat down and laid out the rules and regulations for the competition. We decided that all games scheduled for pre-Christmas would have to be played in that framework."

Kerry, with a late-running championship campaign after October's All-Ireland replay, and a millennium celebration this weekend for all the county's senior All-Ireland medallists, initially agreed this Saturday as a postponement, but then asked for the fixture to be deferred until the New Year. Dublin agreed to go along with this.

"Postponing until then would be too risky," according to Duffy. "In January there's the All Stars' tour to Dubai, and once you get into February, it's crazy - I got a fright even looking at it - with the National Hurling League starting on February 4th and a double league programme a week later."

At Croke Park yesterday evening, Players' Committee chairman Jarlath Burns officially published a pamphlet, Information for Players. "The purpose was to try and get players access to information they feel they don't have. There has been no set standard as to how they are to be treated on a range of issues," Burns said. "We tried to accentuate the positive in relation to the Amateur Status report, to emphasise the advantages for players as opposed to the restrictions. This will allow them see for themselves things like the mileage allowance."

The publication will be circulated initially to all intercounty players through county secretaries when the league resumes and, it is hoped, to all players in the coming months.

Burns was particularly anxious that details of the voluntary insurance scheme be explained to players. "I feel that if players were fully aware of the advantages (double the basic cover for a £20 per annum premium), they would take it up. But they need the information."

All-Ireland hurling champions Kilkenny will play Limerick in the semi-finals of the South East League at the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday at 2.0 p.m., with Clare and Wexford meeting in the other semi-final. Limerick will be without their Croom and Adare panel members with the clubs involved in the county under-21 hurling final on the same day.