THERE will be moves by the Donegal County Board to sanction clubs whose teams are not lined out in the correct jersey numbers in 2020.
It has become a regular occurrence in recent years for teams to line out with several changes to the numbers submitted to the Board for the publication of match programmes.
In some instances this year, teams bore no resemblance to the programme.
“It’s beyond belief,” Ardara’s John McConnell said at Monday’s annual county convention.
“I don’t know who they think they are fooling.
“The sanctions should be a lot stricter.
“It shouldn’t be hard to get the right jersey out in this day and age. This is going on for years and it’s not getting any better.”
Donegal Chairperson Mick McGrath said the matter will ‘be addressed’.
PRO John McEniff said: “It’s very frustrating. Commentators depend on it and it was very frustrating for them. At one game, 13 of the 14 outfield players were wearing different jerseys.”
Donegal GAA Secretary Declan Martin touched on the subject in his report.
Martin wrote: “We would like to thank the majority of clubs for their assistance to John in getting their squads in with the correct nuthe mbers, so that their own members could identify players immediately with the correct jerseys.
“Unfortunately some managers still feel the need to change their player’s numbers on the day of the match to try to gain an advantage over their opponents.
“This was highlighted at one of our county finals this year, and it is disrespectful to the PRO and county executive and media, but more importantly it was very unfair to the members of our association who rely on the media to accurately inform them on commentary as to who is performing well and scoring at matches.
“We hope that this practice will stop and club managers will show their own supporters and those of opposing teams the respect that is deserved.
“Going into 2021, there will be more than likely still be supporter restraints so more live streaming will be carried out, so we would ask all clubs to cooperate with our PRO for the smooth running of the events.”
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