By John Harrington

One of the most significant motions passed on Day 1 of GAA Congress 2020 has prohibited Gaelic Football defenders who receive a kick-out from passing it back to their goalkeeper.

The penalty for doing so will be a free-kick awarded to the opposition from the position the goalkeeper receives the pass, or if the goalkeeper is inside the 13m line when in receipt of the pass the free will be from the 13m line opposite where the foul occurs.

The motion passed with a narrow majority after being supported by 62% of delegates and will come into effect for this year's Championship.

The first motion passed of Congress 2020 has given sideline officials the power to bring to the attention of the referee, during a break in play, any instances of foul play which have not been noticed by the referee.

Motion 3, which proposed a referee must first give permission to a team medical officer or another authorised official before they can enter the field of play to examine an injured player, was defeated by the narrowest of margins after falling just 1% short of the 60% vote it needed to pass.

A total of six motions were heard on Friday, with the remaining 57 to be heard on Saturday.