Clare football manager Colm Collins will have to watch his sides's Munster championship opener from the stands after being slapped with a 12-week ban for an incident involving a linesman.

The incident, which Clare county board chairman Michael McDonagh described to local newspaper the Clare Champion as minor, occurred during the team’s league encounter with Fermanagh in early March.

It’s believed the manager was reacting to a disallowed score, in the game which the Munster side edged by just two points to guarantee their Division Three status.

McDonagh added that the county board will not be appealing the three month ban handed down by the Competition Control Committee, because they feel the "theatrics of an appeal" would be an added distraction.

Clare take on Limerick in Cusack Park on Saturday May 23rd, with hopes particularly high off-the-back of the progress of club side Cratloe (also managed by Collins) in recent Munster club championships, and the inclusion of Clare hurlers such as Podge and Sean Collins, Cathal McInerney and Davy O'Halloran in this year's panel.

Late last year Cork native Ephie Fitzgerald took over from Paudie Kissane as the team’s coach, and it would appear that the man who previously led Nemo Rangers to four county championships in a row will man the sideline along with experienced selector Ger Keane on Saturday week.

Colm Collins was unavailable for comment when contacted by The Irish Times.