SECOND CLASS CITIZEN'S SCREENPLAY OF TWO-TIER JUSTICE

THIS is the story of an inter-county football goalkeeper who was sent off during an All-Ireland qualifying game. He was reported for kicking an opponent, an offence which, if proven, carries a three-month ban. The goalkeeper disputed the referee's version of events. He contended that the kick wasn't deliberate and that, at the very worst, it should have been deemed dangerous play, which carries a four-week suspension.

Sounds familiar? So we're talking about Dublin keeper, Stephen Cluxton? Wrong, but the comparison is worth following. Cluxton's dismissal against Armagh on July 5 developed into one of the season's most dramatic tales, not least because it had such a colossal influence on the actual game and on the sulphurous fall-out which followed as bewildered Dubs struggled to cope with a long, idle summer.

Reports subsequently swept through the capital that if Cluxton were banned for three months, he would pass the time by playing soccer with St Patrick's Athletic. That added an interesting dimension to the case. Would the GAA be silly enough to hand a star name to soccer over a relatively minor incident which looked more trip than kick anyway.

Cluxton's case was heard last Monday and, luckily for him, the GAC decided that a four-week ban was adequate. He is free to play again next Saturday which is good news for the player and his club, Parnells. It also means that he is eligible to train with the International Rules squad and won't be joining St Pat's. It's win-win-win for the GAA.

Now let's get back to another goalkeeper. He was sent off on June 21 - two weeks before Cluxton - and has missed three important club games in the meantime. His club are facing a championship play-off next weekend but he will miss that too.

That would be easy to accept if he had been 'convicted' of kicking an opponent but, in fact, he hasn't. Believe it or not, he is still in disciplinary limbo, awaiting a final adjudication on his case. The latest update is that GAC have asked him to provide a video of the incident in an effort to ascertain whether the kicking charge is warranted. The problem there appears to be no video of the game available. Almost six weeks after being sent off, he still doesn't know his fate. And, all the time, he keeps missing games for his club, the so-called bedrock of the GAA.

Step forward, Gareth Phelan of Leitrim and Melvin Gaels. If the Texaco Awards recognised frustration, Phelan would be an undisputed winner. Understandably so. He is totally mystified by the long delay in dealing with his case and is convinced that if he were from a higher-profile county things would be different.

The GAC would, no doubt, strongly refute such a claim but look at it from Phelan's viewpoint. He couldn't attend an original GAC hearing because his grandfather had died but was under the impression that his case would eventually be heard last Wednesday.

However, there was no GAC meeting on Wednesday night but when he heard that there was to be one on Friday to deal with Kildare's attempt to have Alan Barry cleared to play against Roscommon on Saturday, he sought to have his case considered. Sorry Gareth, not possible.

And so he missed another club game. On Monday, he took a day off work to attend a GAC hearing. He left his house at 9am to drive to Croke Park for a meeting where, ironically, Stephen Cluxton was among those putting their own particular cases. It was 5.30pm when

Phelan got back home, just in time to hear it announced on the radio that Cluxton, Kevin Fitzpatrick (Laois) and Dan Gordon (Down) had all got four-week bans. Phelan wasn't mentioned. Nor did he get a call. He wasn't informed until yesterday morning that GAC wanted to see a video of the incident. He had tried weeks ago to get a video in an effort to boost his defence but it seems nobody caught the incident on camera. So he's back to square one, still in isolation and still wondering why the saga is being dragged out for so long.

Meanwhile, he will miss next weekend's game crucial championship game against Fenagh. Said Phelan: "The whole thing is absolutely crazy. Almost six weeks after the incident, I'm still in limbo. As far as I'm concerned, I shouldn't be facing a three-month ban anyway because the incident doesn't warrant it but even if it did, why hasn't the case been heard?

"Alan Barry got a hearing at a few days notice - and good luck to him - but my case just drags on and on. At this rate, I'll have served the three months before the GAC makes a ruling. Maybe if I had said I was going to play rugby or soccer, it might have changed things. Or does that only apply to the strong counties? From where I'm standing, this looks like a classic case of a player from a weaker county being treated as a second class citizen."

That an inter-county player of seven years experience should even think that way is alarming but frankly it's difficult to blame him. Irrespective of the circumstances, no disciplinary process should be so prolonged. After all, justice delayed is justice denied.

PS: Isn't it about time to scrap the rotational system for the All-Ireland football semi-finals? It's known in advance that the semi-final pairings will feature Armagh or Laois v Galway or Donegal and Kerry or Roscommon against Tyrone or Fermanagh. That's because under the old system, the 2003 semi-finals would have featured Munster v Ulster and Connacht v Leinster. Surely it would be far more exciting to have an open draw for the semi-finals too.

e-mail: mbreheny@eircom.net

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