Joe Brolly says that while Seán Cavanagh’s high-profile foul on Conor McManus in 2013 should have been the catalyst for change in GAA, cynical fouling is now rampant within the game.
Tyrone’s quarter-final win over Ulster rivals Monaghan four years ago will be best remembered by Cavanagh’s foul on the Farney attacker as he bore down on goals.
The RTÉ pundit described the incident afterwards as an "absolute disgrace", questioned how the former footballer won the man-of-the-match award after the incident and said Mickey Harte's side had "achieved something rotten" in victory.
The black card was introduced the following year in an effort to address the issue, but speaking on RTÉ Radio 1’s Today With Seán O’Rourke show, Brolly insisted that the problem is now worse, with cynicism "rampant" within the game.
"I thought at the time because it sparked such huge debate... because it was so widely discussed, I thought it would be the catalyst for change," he said.
"In fact, what has happened, largely because of the inactivity of the GAA and the ineffectiveness of the black card and the sanction, it has become absolutely systematic."
The 1993 All-Ireland winner with Derry referenced two moments from the thrilling Allianz League final between Dublin and Kerry are further examples of the tactical fouling that has become part and parcel of the game in his opinion.
"Whenever Diarmuid Connolly was bearing down on goals to create a goalscoring opportunity, he was carefully pulled down before he reached the penalty area, so that a penalty wouldn’t be given," he said.
"In the second half, whenever [Michael] Fitzsimons was trying to get through the Kerry defence, he was pulled down before he got into free-kicking territory so that Dean Rock’s free became a very difficult one.
"Unfortunately the language of ‘he’s just taking one for the team’ has now become par for the course."
"Players got black cards, but both were replaced by a substitute and it had no impact on the game.
"Unfortunately the language of ‘he’s just taking one for the team’ has now become par for the course.
"If the Kerry players hadn’t have done that in the League final, no doubt there would have been an inquisition from their manager.
"That sort of cynicism has now become rampant."
Professor Aidan Moran from the School of Psychology at UCD was also speaking on the programme and says cheating in sport is nothing new, and differentiated between that and gamesmanship.
"In every sport there are examples of cheating."
"Cheating or acting dishonestly to break the rules to gain an unfair advantage over others, that has been around for as long as sport itself has," he said.
"It has been around as long as human behaviour.
"Gamesmanship is bending rules, pushing them to the limit, trying to gain a dubious advantage without actually breaking the rules over the opponent and that is rife in sport.
"In every sport there are examples of cheating."
When asked on how the GAA can look to tackle the issue of cynical fouling considering that the black card has failed to do so adequately, Brolly says the key lies in the severity of the sanction.
"It [black card] was supposed to be the start of the process. The problem was it was so watered down it was meaningless," he said.
"What I have always advocated is that if a player has a clear goalscoring opportunity and is pulled down, it should be a penalty and the player should be sent off.
"The GAA needs to act now."
"And there should be no replacement.
"Also if there is a cynical foul out the field, there should be 30 metres free in front of goals so there is a proper sanction. The GAA needs to act now."
Listen to live coverage of New York v Sligo in the Connacht Championship on RTÉ Radio 1 on Sunday night from 8pm Irish time (throw-in 8.15pm).
