Ciaran Whelan: Fundamentally flawed GAA rules make it too easy to dodge suspensions

Ciarán Whelan believes the latest case of players escaping suspensions shows there is "a fundamental problem" with the enforcement of rules in the Gaelic games.

Armagh's Stefan Campbell and Aidan Nugent are free to play in Sunday's Ulster SFC quarter-final against Donegal after the Central Appeals Committee this week overturned suspensions proposed by the Central Competitions Control Committee and upheld by the Central Hearings Committee.

The suspensions were reportedly dismissed on the grounds that not enough detail had been submitted to prove the players had 'contributed to a melee' in an Allianz Football League match against Donegal in March. The rulebook does not specify how or if a referee is expected to back up their assertion.

Even if the players had failed to win at the CAC, they could have taken their case to the fourth and final level of the GAA's many-layered disciplinary process, the independent Disputes Resolution Authority. Their team-mate Ciarán Mackin accepted a one-match ban and will miss the game.

Speaking on the RTÉ GAA podcast, former Dublin star Whelan said: "In other sports, this just doesn't arise. If someone gets suspended they’re suspended, it’s end of story.

"You’ve got to wonder if there is a fundamental problem with the rulebook and how we implement the rules.

"There are so many avenues to pursue a technicality because the whole disciplinary system is so complex. The whole rulebook is so open to interpretation and challenge."

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Whelan also recalled his own