Tough action taken against top Mayo club comes before FAI's table

A new development has taken place in the case in which Mayo Super League club Ballyheane FC was rocked last month by a seismic disciplinary decision taken against it by the Mayo Football League.

The club was handed a €1,000 fine, four key officials were banned from all football-related activities for 12 months and three of their players were ruled out of the next two Oscar Traynor Cup campaigns.

The punishment was issued by the league's disciplinary and control unit (DCU) following Ballyheane’s controversial decision to withdraw three players from Mayo’s Oscar Traynor squad ahead of their recent semi-final defeat to Limerick.

The saga started as a result of Ballyheane’s frustration with the league’s scheduling of a Thursday night fixture, despite what they believed was a prior agreement to avoid such midweek games until May.

However, Ballyheane's action in withdrawing the players from the Mayo squad was deemed a serious breach of conduct by the DCU, which accused the club of bringing the game into disrepute.

In the aftermath of the league issuing its decision to the Ballyheane, an appeal was lodged by the club to the Connaught Football Association.

But it is understood the Connaught FA rejected the appeal because it was not satisfied that a copy of it was lodged in advance with the Mayo League.

Now Ballyheane has submitted its appeal to the FAI and a hearing is awaited.

In the meantime, the suspensions of the four club officials remain in place.