Donegal manager Jim McGuinness said he was "quietly confident" that his eight-week ban for playing an ineligible player would be overturned once a hearing was granted.
Finbarr Roarty was 17 when he played for Donegal against Armagh in the McKenna Cup. He subsequently turned 18. Rules state that senior players must have turned at least 18 by the start of the calendar year. They also state that the "person(s) in charge of the team" would be given an eight-week suspension for the infraction.
On Friday, Donegal GAA released a statement saying that following a hearing, "the county secretary has been informed that the alleged infraction was not proven, and that no further disciplinary action is to be taken".
The Irish Examiner reported the decision focused on who was responsible for Roarty being selected.
7 January 2024; Donegal manager Jim McGuinness speaks to his team before the Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup Group A match between Tyrone and Donegal at O'Neills Healy Park in Omagh, Tyrone. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
"You're dealing with something that ideally you wouldn't like to be dealing with and it does take up a lot of time," McGuinness told Highland Radio.
"It's a hearing, you've got to go in a put your case forward. Once we got the hearing, we were quietly confident that we were in a good spot. We tried to go in, have our homework done and we got the result we were looking for, thankfully.
"It's just one of those... an administrative situation where really it shouldn't have happened. That's the reality of the situation."
14 January 2024; John Ross Molloy of Donegal in action against Darragh Treanor of Monaghan during the Dr McKenna Cup semi-final match between Monaghan and Donegal at Castleblayney in Monaghan. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Donegal defeated Monaghan 4-14 to 0-11 in the semi-final of the McKenna Cup on Sunday. They will played Derry in the final on Saturday.
"Today was a good opportunity to get back on the horse and get working again with the team because everything suffers a bit when your focus is somewhere else," said McGuinness.
"We definitely want to kick it. We've been trying to do that in all the games. Sometimes that's easier said than done. It's about confidence as well, it's about trust.
"The balance was good today between the running game and the kicking game. You need that because one can be easily shut down if you don't have the other.
"The big positive for us is that a lot of fellas got minutes again, a lot of fellas got exposure. Karl Joseph (Molloy) made his debut. That's nice, his brother was on the pitch at the same time.
"I don't know if we'll go all out [against Derry] in terms of risking people who have niggles but we definitely want to win the game. Fellas sat out today because of niggles. We tried to be smart about it and we'll have to do the same next weekend."
