"I don't see any possibility of the black card suddenly being dispensed with"
October 13, 2016
Tipperary's Robbie Kiely is shown a black card by referee David Coldrick during the all Ireland SFC semi final.
GAA president Aogán Ó Fearghail has confirmed that the black card is not going to be given the boot.
Week in, week out, the controversial sanction seems to be the most talked-about thing in gaelic football, with referees struggling to implement the rules either properly or consistently, but the Association is determind to keep the black card in place:
"In some quarters there has been a backlash," Ó Fearghail told gaa.ie. "You'll get that with everything in the GAA from various commentators. The black card is there, it's part of our rules. I don't see any possibility of the black card suddenly being dispensed with because of one or two or even more incidents. It's part of the playing rules of the GAA.
"The black card is there now, there is an onus on us to make sure whatever rules we have, whatever they are, that they are well implemented. I would accept that with the black card some of the commentary is fair because we do probably need to make sure it is properly implemented. But as regards an abolition of it? No.
"There have been some calls where people are not happy with the black card. In general, most of them have been right. Have some of them been wrong? I would imagine, yes.
"That's where we have a challenge. No doubt about that. We have a challenge in the GAA to improve everything we do, to make sure we get it right. On the black card, it should be absolutely clear to everyone that it's a black card - and there are times when perhaps that isn't always the case.
"The black card is there. We have to improve how we use it. And the referees' committee have said that themselves and acknowledged that. And they are improving their education around referees and the use of it."
