UL to appeal expulsion from Ashbourne Cup

THE UNIVERSITY of Limerick are set to appeal their expulsion from the Ashbourne Cup the college have revealed. UL were scheduled to play in the semi-finals of the competition tomorrow but were informed of their elimination on Wednesday.

The Limerick college had been due to play UCC in their semi-final fixture tomorrow but it now appears that this will not be the case and DCU will take their place. 

A source close to the UL management panel has revealed that they plan to lodge a further appeal this afternoon to ensure that they are reinstated back into the Ashbourne Cup. The appeal is set to be heard by the Disputes Resolution Authority.

The college's senior camogie panel and management released a statement this afternoon that reads as follows:

"On Wednesday morning, 72 hours out from the Ashbourne Cup semi finals, our UL senior camogie team were absolutely shocked an appalled to receive and email from the THDC (Transfers, Hearings and Disciplinary Committee) of the Camogie Association, stating our elimination from the Ashbourne Cup.This came just days after being congratulated by the CCAO (College Camogie Board) on earning our place in the semi finals.

"On January 31, with one final game in our group to be played, away to Maynooth, we knew a victory for UL would draw us level on points with TUD and DCU in our group. According to competition rules score difference would now be used to decide which 2 teams would qualify.

"A table widely shared on the CCAO'S social media channels (Twitter and Instagram) in the lead up to this important game showed that we needed to win the match by 33 points to qualify in second place. UL still went about seeking official clarification from CCAO prior to the Maynooth match that indeed a 33 point winning margin was needed. This was confirmed by the CCAO executive.

"Remarkably, we won the match by 34 points. The UL girls were immediately congratulated by the CCAO on twitter and received an email the following morning again congratulating us on our place in the semi finals.

"Sometime over the next 48 hours the CCAO contacted UL to say that there may have been a mistake with the 'Official information' that had been provided. As far as we are aware a quested was raised by DCU about the score difference, importantly not before but after our match with Maynooth, although they had been made officially aware of the scores and possible outcomes in the week leading up to the UL and Maynooth fixture.

"CCAO have confirmed to us that no official appeal was sent in. Despite receiving no official appeal, the CCAO kicked the matter up to the THDC. At no point were UL asked for a submission by either the CCAO or the THDC explaining the situation. In fact we were kept in the dark and had to ask what was happening before were told that the matter had been moved up to the THDC. 

"We have no idea what information the THDC used to come to their decision as it was not shared with us. However, at 9:19am Wednesday morning (Feb 9th) UL received a one line email from the THDC informing us that DCU will be going forward based on conformation of a scoreline by a referee from a match dated November 29th 2022.

"Within 24 hours UL submitted an appeal to what we saw as this unjust and unfair outcome but last night at 11.30pm we received notice that we failed to establish even a hearing, still depriving us of any opportunity to plead our case to those that decided to eliminate us.

"Tomorrow, the Electric Ireland Ashbourne Cup semi finals are due to take place and at the moment it appears that they will be happening without UL, making a farcical situation out of the whole competition. The decision to retrospectively alter the scoring difference standings after the group had been completed has to be a precedent unheard of in any sport let alone
Ireland's elite flagship third level camogie competition.

"As a result 28 girls who have given unbelievable dedication and commitment to their campaign will miss out on the chance to
play in a national semi final without any explanation as to why and no opportunity to plead their case. We feel that this has been a totally unfair procedure throughout where natural justice has not been served towards the UL Ashbourne Panel.

"All we ask is for a fair opportunity to be allowed to plead our case. Le meas, UL Ashbourne Camogie Panel and Management 2022/2023."

The Limerick Leader / Limerick Live contacted the CCAO for comment on the situation but at the time of writing this article, they did not provide comment on the situation.