THE APPEAL AGAINST Tipperary hurler Jason Forde’s controversial two-match ban arising out of the recent league semi-final against Wexford is set to be heard next week.
The Silvermines club man could miss out on Tipperary’s Munster quarter-final against Cork on 21 May due to suspension and their championship outing after that – either a provincial semi-final against Waterford or an All-Ireland qualifier tie – if the ban remains.
County board chairman Michael Bourke has told Tipp FM that he is confident that they can have ‘a severe injustice’ overturned.
Tipperary have opted to fight on behalf of Forde after he was slapped with the punishment following a clash with Davy Fitzgerald in the victory over Wexford at Nowlan Park on 16 April.
Forde’s case will first be heard by the GAA’s Central Hearings Committee (CHC) and if unsuccessful there, Tipperary could then potentially bring it to the Central Appeals Committee (CAC) and the independent Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA).
Speaking after last Sunday’s league final loss to Galway, Tipperary manager Michael Ryan insisted the controversy did not derail their preparations for the game but did express his unhappiness with the sanction.
“Nobody likes to have any kind of an accusation hanging over you and these guys simply want to play hurling. The seriousness of a two-match ban, for any player, is horrendous, to be honest.
“We’ll just be looking that balance and fairness will be the order of the day when we make our case in Croke Park. The proposed punishment does not fit the crime, in my opinion.”
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To put this in perspective Forde, for squaring up to a pitch invader, is faced with the same length ban as Neil Taylor got for his horrific tackle on Seamus Coleman.
@Phil O’ Meara: Philly McMahon got a one game ban for eye gouging!
7 of the last 9 articles on the 42 are on rugby. Why does it get such a proportion of print space? The new numbers don’t add up
@Cathal: it’s probably something to do with the fact that there are 7 rugby news story’s to report on…. Madness
@Cathal: it’s not just the42 – 8 page pull-outs on schools rugby is common place in Irish papers now.
When was the last time you saw a pull-out on schools GAA?
@Johnny 5: So a former U20 Irish lad playing in Australia merits a headline. Attendances at all GAA across the country most weekends is many multiples more than you’ll find at club rugby games. Old rugger school boys turned “journos” driving their agenda from web news to sports editors at national broadsheets
@Cathal: Firstly, journalism in it’s current guise is driven by clicks. The 42 or any of it’s competitors won’t assign resources to stories that don’t generate traffic. If you want to look at the reason rugby is generating more clicks than GAA, there myriad causes, even outside of the fact that this weekend is essentially a top level intercounty GAA bye week. However you view each sport as a product, the fact is the IRFU are much better are selling their product than the GAA. The competitions follow a coherent format, the top teams regularly play each other and narrative builds over the course of the season that captures people’s interest. The players are available to media, building their profiles and the profile of their sport. They have made it sexy and cool, and that grabs attention
@Johnny 5: hahahahahahahahaha
I’m far from a Tipperary fan admittedly but Forde had no business going near Davy. There’s no doubt Davy shouldn’t have been on the pitch but he was making his way back to the line when Forde came running over and started at Davy. He deserves a ban.
After applying the rules strictly to McGeeney and Fitzgerald it would have been hypocritical of the GAA to show leniency with Forde.
@Patrick Kennedy: comparing apples and oranges there. Both Davy and McGeeney were instigators in their altercations. They are officials ,not players, going well outside the accepted behaviour expected of them. It draws the game into disrepute and set a terrible example from leading figures and legends of the game. Forde was reacting to an opposition manager illegally entering the field of play and instigating an altercation with his teammate. He showed a degree of restraint not to let it escalate. The fact that even Davy is willing to back his appeal speaks to how unjust it is
@Johnny 5: in fairness, restraint would have been not to go near Fitzgerald at all. Forde didn’t have to get involved. This situation is of his own making, same as Fitzgerald landed himself in his own mess, and Forde should accept his punishment too in the way that Fitzgerald has.