DOWN MANAGER PADDY Tally has had his ban reduced from 12 to eight weeks following a meeting of the Central Hearings Committee last night.

The suspension relates to a breach of the GAA’s training guidelines with the infraction of ‘misconduct considered to have discredited the association’ seeing Tally initially handed a proposed 12-week suspension.

The Down manager requested the hearing which took place and while the infraction was found to be proven, the penalty imposed has been reduced to eight weeks.

Tally does now have the option of not accepting the decision of the Hearings Committee and the suspension, taking it on to the Appeals Committee.

The Down punishment relates to a gathering at Abbey CBS in Newry while Cork manager Ronan McCarthy is also facing a proposed suspension due to a collective fitness exercise in Youghal last month.

The Cork county board have indicated they will request a hearing after the suspension was handed down to McCarthy. The rule breaches are linked to the GAA’s current ban on collective inter-county training rather than breaking Covid-19 rules for elite sports.