www.uibhfhaili.com

I agree BnM man, and I also think Christy Todd needs a root in the bollox for not being on top of this. That's his fecking job. He's there too long now, and has gotten complacent.

Christy is a nice fella, and has given a lot to the GAA in Offaly, but he has a smug 'know all' streak in him. We've sailed too close to the wind a couple of times now, and it looks as if this faux pas could be very costly.

Hope I'm not too late for my piece!

The story goes now that once a personal hearing was looked for then you can't play ball until after the hearing at the earliest so the category stuff doesn't come into play.........

http://www.hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=73790

This looks ugly.

Confirmed:

CCC Meeting
08 March 2007

At a meeting of the CCC on Thursday 8th March, an objection by Longford to Offaly playing Ken Casey while under suspension in the Allianz National Football League game on the 25th February was upheld.

The game ended in a draw and both points have been awarded to Longford.
http://www.hoganstand.com/Offaly/Articl ... x?ID=73881

Losing the points seemed pretty straight forward.

Anyone know when we find out if anything happens to Casey beyond the original suspension?

Please God no one finds something like...'any player found guilty of playing while under suspension will be suspended for the 12 months following the origianl suspension term'. PLEASE!

According to radio reports this morning Casey has been handed a six month ban for playiong while illegal.

This is hardly justice, another example of GAA disciplinary nonsense. Is a player expected to have sufficient knowledge of GAA administration to contradict the advice of a senior county board official. Maybe it's the letter of the law, just not justice.

Rightly, Offaly are to appeal the punishment handed down to Casey.
As Oliver Hardy used to say "Another fine mess you've gotten me into"
The least they can do is try and get him out of it.

6 months ban for a young player learning the trade, only coming onto the scene,what Offaly and the GAA in general need badly to compete with other sports and they give HIM ! the punishment for an apparent misinterpretation of the rules by the CB, 2 words- FUCKING DISGRACEFUL !!!!

6 months for a technical error is abolutely disgraceful. How must that young lad be feeling this morning?
I'm a Laoisman and I am extremely disappointed and sorry for the chap. Probably ye were always going to lose the league point but to penalise the lad like this is just crazy.

Six months for playing while suspended when it should have been the county board's fault - yeah, way out of order.

However to only get four weeks in the first place for abusing a referee was wrong too. Let's not suddenly start pretending that the young lad is blameless here.

I agree he is not blameless but as regard the second yellow incident I seen him genuinely going in with most of his body to block the kick and it did strike his boot but my initial view was he didn't purposely try to foot block. The refereeing at this stage was horrendous to say the least which everyone from Offaly and Carlow will vouch for and when he issued Ken with the red card I could understand his frustration and he lost it for a couple of moments which most young lads would and I feel if he was issued with a strong warning not to repeat his actions and given a 4 week ban then the issue was sorted. What has happen after that is nothing short of disgraceful and I now call on the GPA to get involved and protect their players against this ludicrous behaviour. This shouldn't even go to an appeal,it should not have happened in the first place and Ken Casey is the scapegoat. I'm utterly disgusted.

Thought (justified or not) that we might be howling about the 'additional 4 weeks' Casey would be given. Six months!

Has it been announced what soccer club Casey will be playing for during and after his supension?

Kevin, they were my thoughts too when I heard this news. SIX MONTHS for a stupid misinterpretation of a convoluted rule, while often real "thugs" get off scot-free or with minimal suspensions for GBH (see Battle of Omagh, Battle(s) of Aughrim, Loughrea hurlers, etc).

I would not blame Ken Casey for saying "to hell with this shambles" Why should he hang around for half a year and then go back to an organisation that treats it's young players with such disrespect for errors that were not all his own doing? I agree with LS that he does warrant some suspension for the verbal abuse; that is something which has to be suppressed in all Gaelic Games. But this is ridiculous and brings further shame on the whole GAA Disciplinary Process.

I generally concur with LS but I think he is wrong on this. Fair enough, you think the suspension for the original offence "should" have been longer - but it wasn’t. Casey got 4 weeks that's all.
From there on you can't apportion any blame on the lad for, and I'll use the words again, the "sheer ineptitude" of the Offaly county board.
I do however believe the additional suspension of the player is outrageous. This sort of technical infringement which is clearly the domain of the county board to enforce should be dealt with via points deduction & fine on the county board, i.e. punish the muppets who made the mistake, not further suspension of the player.
One can only feel very sorry for Casey if this additional suspension is upheld.

Disgraceful.
It brings to mind the disgraceful treatment of Vinnie Mooney and others back in the mid 90s.