STEPHEN BRADLEY HAS branded the League of Ireland’s disciplinary process as “not fit for purpose” after three of his Shamrock Rovers players were served with suspensions for their part in the brawl with rivals Bohemians in the aftermath of the Dublin derby earlier this month.
While the Hoops were able to provide enough video evidence to ensure striker Michael Noonan would not serve a three-game ban and will be available for the final fixture of the campaign away to Dundalk next Friday, winger Daniel Grant will serve a four-match ban taking him into next year while Naj Razi is ruled out for the remainder of this term.
Rovers could clinch the Premier Division title for the sixth time in seven seasons this Friday if they beat Sligo Rovers and Bohs fail to match that result against Shelbourne.
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Bohs captain Dawson Devoy has also been banned for the next two games while assistant manager Stephen O’Donnell will not be back on the touchline until the 2027 campaign.
Each three-person disciplinary committee that is independent of the FAI is comprised of a lawyer, a member of the general assembly, a football representative, or a combination of both.
There are also a pool of volunteers from which the FAI select their disciplinary committees from on a week-to-week basis.
Rovers were able to submit video evidence in relation to Noonan’s red card as it was part of the referee’s match report.
“Obviously we’re happy it went down [to two game ban] as he is available next week but the whole disciplinary process and how it is handled is not fit for purpose,” Bradley said.
“I think everybody around the league would say that. People within the league would probably say that. It is not fit for purpose. Everything around it needs to change. It is so poor how it is done.
“In every way. Speak to anyone who has been through the process, any player, any club, it is really not fit for purpose and needs to be really looked at and how it is done. We’ve made great strides but that is an area I feel we can improve.”
It’s understood that the disciplinary process has undergone significant changes over the last number of years that the FAI feel have modernised its processes to bring it in line with other professional leagues.
Any changes to how it operates would require approval at board level of the FAI and clubs are also afforded the opportunity to provide feedback on an annual basis as to any changes they would like to see.
The most recent meeting of the National League Committee in which club representatives could provide such feedback to changes they would like to see to the disciplinary regulations for next season actually came on the day of that Rovers-Bohs derby on 12 October.
The fact it took nine days for a decision to be made is one of the issues Bradley felt willing to address directly.
“Everything around it. Genuinely, if you are to sit and go through it. I used to go to them but you are wasting your time. How it is done. the whole process around it. I need to be careful but it is not fit for purpose.
“It definitely can be done quicker. But there is so much more. It is maybe a conversation for the end of the season, to go into detail.”
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'The whole disciplinary process and how it is handled is not fit for purpose'
STEPHEN BRADLEY HAS branded the League of Ireland’s disciplinary process as “not fit for purpose” after three of his Shamrock Rovers players were served with suspensions for their part in the brawl with rivals Bohemians in the aftermath of the Dublin derby earlier this month.
While the Hoops were able to provide enough video evidence to ensure striker Michael Noonan would not serve a three-game ban and will be available for the final fixture of the campaign away to Dundalk next Friday, winger Daniel Grant will serve a four-match ban taking him into next year while Naj Razi is ruled out for the remainder of this term.
Rovers could clinch the Premier Division title for the sixth time in seven seasons this Friday if they beat Sligo Rovers and Bohs fail to match that result against Shelbourne.
Bohs captain Dawson Devoy has also been banned for the next two games while assistant manager Stephen O’Donnell will not be back on the touchline until the 2027 campaign.
Each three-person disciplinary committee that is independent of the FAI is comprised of a lawyer, a member of the general assembly, a football representative, or a combination of both.
There are also a pool of volunteers from which the FAI select their disciplinary committees from on a week-to-week basis.
Rovers were able to submit video evidence in relation to Noonan’s red card as it was part of the referee’s match report.
“Obviously we’re happy it went down [to two game ban] as he is available next week but the whole disciplinary process and how it is handled is not fit for purpose,” Bradley said.
“I think everybody around the league would say that. People within the league would probably say that. It is not fit for purpose. Everything around it needs to change. It is so poor how it is done.
“In every way. Speak to anyone who has been through the process, any player, any club, it is really not fit for purpose and needs to be really looked at and how it is done. We’ve made great strides but that is an area I feel we can improve.”
It’s understood that the disciplinary process has undergone significant changes over the last number of years that the FAI feel have modernised its processes to bring it in line with other professional leagues.
Any changes to how it operates would require approval at board level of the FAI and clubs are also afforded the opportunity to provide feedback on an annual basis as to any changes they would like to see.
The most recent meeting of the National League Committee in which club representatives could provide such feedback to changes they would like to see to the disciplinary regulations for next season actually came on the day of that Rovers-Bohs derby on 12 October.
The fact it took nine days for a decision to be made is one of the issues Bradley felt willing to address directly.
“Everything around it. Genuinely, if you are to sit and go through it. I used to go to them but you are wasting your time. How it is done. the whole process around it. I need to be careful but it is not fit for purpose.
“It definitely can be done quicker. But there is so much more. It is maybe a conversation for the end of the season, to go into detail.”
Comments are unavailable right now as we upgrade some of our systems.
League of Ireland LOI Ref Justice Shamrock Rovers Soccer Stephen Bradley