Referees chief Pat McEnaney thinks substitutions rather than dismissals for second yellow cards in hurling would be a "major backward step".
Liam Sheedy's GAA Hurling 2020 Review Committee made the recommendation, along with a number of other proposals, on Tuesday.
"Hurling is a highly skilful game but it needs to be protected by the people who run it, and watering down the rules would not be my idea and I wouldn’t support it," McEnaney told the Irish Examiner.
"What they’re saying is you can commit two fouls under careless use of the hurl and be replaced. I would find that astonishing.
"As of last year we have a rule in the game where if you grab a player’s helmet it’s a red card offence.
"There’s a massive disproportion between a red card for that and then turning around and saying a player can twice use a hurl in a careless manner and be replaced.
"We can’t be going narrow alleyways just because one or two fellas got sent off in the wrong." - Pat McEnaney
“So a player would be able to pull down an opponent twice and then be replaced? He’d be allowed to trip an opponent twice and then be replaced? In Gaelic football, you’re sent to the line and replaced for doing it once.
“I would see this as a major backward step. We can’t be going narrow alleyways just because one or two fellas got sent off in the wrong. You’ve got to take a helicopter view here.”
McEnaney also rejected calls for a separate hurling referees committee, saying: “The committee has a strong hurling ethos. Just because I’m chairman and I’m from Monaghan, people might have an outlook that doesn’t portray the full image.
"Put it this way: there’s a lot more All-Ireland hurling referee medals on my committee than there are football ones. There is absolutely no need for two committees.”
