Last Wednesday night the GAA's Central Appeals Committee (CAC) rejected Kildare's petition that Offaly had misapplied the blood substitutions rule and as a result effectively used six substitutions but Kildare have now brought the matter to the DRA by sending in a 1,000 deposit to go with their formal claim.

"We got a request for arbitration on Friday evening, " DRA secretary Liam Keane verified yesterday. "That means we now have to put a tribunal together and also give the named respondents, in this case the CAC, the opportunity to submit a written reply."

The DRA tribunal is likely to meet and make a verdict before the end of next week such is the urgency of the matter. As of now, Kildare are due to play Cavan in St Conleth's Park, Newbridge in the opening round of the qualifiers this day next week, with Offaly set to play Wexford in the Leinster semifinal the following Sunday as part of a Croke Park doubleheader.