The black card will not be removed by the GAA's playing rules committee.

Introduced by the Football Review Committee in 2013, the card is now three years old and is up for review. The playing rules committee will conduct that review and is meeting tonight but chairman Jarlath Burns has intimated that - despite the very vocal calls to get rid of the controversial sanction - there will be no question of removing it:

"I was at the Tyrone final at the weekend and it was a fantastic game. That's been the case across the country. The championship, especially its conclusion, was very good," the Armagh man told The Irish Independent.

"There appears, at times, to be a hysterical cry from certain sections that we need to do this, that and the other but there is a much greater and quieter majority who are saying 'please leave the game alone'.

"We don't want to do anything that might impact on the integrity of the game or the flow of the game. We're now looking at the 'mark' coming in and we just want to see how that goes. Obviously the biggest thing that people are talking to us about and corresponding to us about is the black card.

"How many body checks were stopped, how many coaches focused specifically on coaching the tackle? You have to try, as best you can, to give the edge to the attacking team.

"I know there are those who will say defending is a skill as well. However watch a game where the two defences are on top and watch a game where the two sets of forwards are on top and you'll see two different games. The black card does give a little edge to the forward because it forces the defender into thinking 'I can't be too robust here'."

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