'It's scandalous' - Bernard Flynn slates CHC for rescinding Kevin Keane's red card

Kevin Keane, Mayo, leaves the field after he was shown the red card by referee David Gough. GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Quarter-Final, Donegal v Mayo, Croke Park, Dublin. Picture credit: Piaras Ó Mídheach / SPORTSFILE

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August 20 2015 08:31 PM

Former Meath star Bernard Flynn has slammed the decision by the Central Hearings Committee (CHC) to rescind the red card Mayo's Kevin Keane received against Donegal.

The Westport man was sent off for striking Michael Murphy near the end of their All-Ireland quarter-final win against Donegal but the gravity of the strike led Mayo and Keane to believe that the sanction was too harsh and they appealed successfully.

The Hearings Committee downgraded the sanction from a red card to a yellow card meaning Keane has been cleared to play in their mouthwatering semi-final, a repeat of the 2013 All-Ireland final.

Speaking on Game On on 2Fm this evening, Flynn was heavily critical of the ruling .

"I just don't know how Kevin Keane got his red card rescinded," he said.

"I can't in any way, shape or form see how these people on the committee turned over a straight punch in the face, a blatant red card.

"Somebody has to answer for that... It's scandalous.

"I looked at it again. It's so blatant and Murphy wasn't trying to get him sent off, he went to the umpire because he was just punched in the face.

"It was so stupid, I think the management have something to answer for. To come on with a few minutes to go and to do something so silly when you're so far ahead... it was brain-dead stuff. There was no sense in it

"If I was the management I would let him suffer for one game because he needed to learn a lesson.

"It's beyond belief."

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