By John Harrington

GAA Annual Congress today ratified new penalties for aggressive and cynical fouls in hurling and football on a trial basis for a year.

61 per cent of delegates voted in favour of the three deterrents that were included in Motion 20.

In hurling, if a player with a goal-scoring opportunity either inside the 20-metre line or the semi-circular arc that extends from the 20 metre line is pulled down, tripped, or struck with a hurley in a careless manner then a penalty shall be awarded and the offender will be yellow-carded and sent to the sin-bin for 10 minutes.

If the foul committed is a second caution or one that merits a red-card then the offender is ordered off for the remainder of the game including any extra-time to be played.

Similarly, in football, if a cynical foul is committed on an attacking player with a goal-scoring opportunity inside the 20-metre line or the semi-circular arc, then a penalty will be awarded to the team affected.

Motion 20 was one of eight motions from the Standing Committee on Playing Rules that were voted through by Annual Congress.

See below details on the other seven that were passed.

Motion 21: This motion deals with the advantage rule and is somewhat related to Motion 20. If an aggressive foul is committed then the referee can allow play to continue if he believes the attacking team have a potential goal-scoring opportunity. This period of advantage can last for up to five seconds. If it becomes clear after five seconds that no advantage has accrued, then he can award a free. That would naturally mean a penalty would be awarded if the foul occurred inside the 20-metre line or semi-circular arc.

Motion 22: This motion dealt with misconduct by team officials and has defined what the categories of misconduct are and introduced a scale of sanctions that includes match suspensions rather than time suspensions. The implementation date is for the 2021 All-Ireland Championships in both codes and all grades and then for other competitions it will come into effect in 2022.

Motion 23: This motion relates to Motion 22 and dealt with unauthorised incursions onto the field of play. Now no-one will be able to come on to the field of play except a medic summoned by the referee. The sanction for an unauthorised incursion will be a yellow-card. A repeat offence on the day would incur a second yellow-card followed by a red-card which would bar the offender from the pitch enclosure for the remainder of the game including any extra-time. If an individual is ordered off the pitch for a third time, then they will incur a one-match suspension. This motion will only come into effect after the cessation of the current Covid-19 protocols.

Motion 24: The passing of this motion has extended the scope of the rule dealing with abuse of a racist, sectarian, or anti-inclusion nature against an opponent to also include such abuse against a match official.

Motion 25: Teams can now validly start and finish a match with 13 players. Previously if they started a match with 13 they were required to have a full complement of 15 by the start of the second half.

Motion 26: It was already a foul in football and hurling to attempt to distract a free-taker by waving your arms or hurley, shouting at them, or jumping up and down. The passing of this motion has extended the rule to include attempting to distract someone in similar fashion while they are taking a puck-out/kick-out or sideline puck/kick.

Motion 27: The passing of this motion means teams can now make a temporary substitution of a player with a suspected head injury.