Football Review Committee recommends seven new GAA rules in final report

The FRC have proposed that all current rule enhancements remain in place in GAA, and have advocated for seven extra rule modifications.

The final FRC report was released today, proposing that the 2024 and 2025 rule changes to be kept in place for 2026 onwards.

Chairperson Jim Gavin and the FRC have been widely praised for the introduction of the two-point arc in football, which has created more exciting and high-scoring games.

According to The Hogan Stand and the Independent, additional rule modifications being proposed are:

• Penalising early movement by players before 1v1 throw-ins.
• Changing the kick-out mark delay penalty from a throw-in to a free kick.
• Clarifying enforcement of Solo and Go distance.
• Introducing a black card for jersey-pulling in goal-scoring situations.
• Extending penalty awards for cynical fouls in goal-scoring situations to club competitions.
• Clarifying conditions for 2-point scores when touched by the opposition.
• Empowering neutral sideline officials to report foul play.

The report also suggests that a Gaelic Football Expert Advisory Group be set up to monitor trends in the game.

Gavin revealed in July that the GAA would be trialling a few more rules, including four-point goals and the ‘no backpass’ or ‘over and back’ rule, meaning a player can’t go back into their defensive half after crossing halfway.

Also tested was a new handpass rule, which meant consecutive handpasses were outlawed, and a kickpass had to come between them. The aim of this was to reduce the number of handpasses in the game, with the two-point arc seemingly not reducing handpass rates.

These new rules were trialled at a ‘sandbox’ game in Abbotstown in July, with Round Tower of Clondalkin playing Fingallians of Swords. SportsJOE got the inside track of how these new rules went down with spectators and players.

However, none of these more revolutionary rules have made the list of proposals.