27 Offaly players considered close contacts due to training

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By Damian Lawlor and Marty Morrissey

Offaly will be unable to field a team for Saturday’s Christy Ring Cup clash with Kildare following an HSE decision that could have major implications for the remainder of the inter-county GAA season.

Faithful County officials tonight confirmed their concession of the game, saying they regretted that it would not be possible to comply with the fixture as the HSE has viewed nearly all of its senior launch panel members as a ‘close contact’ after the training with a player who tested positive for Covid-19.

As a result, the 27 players involved have been forced to isolate themselves and are not available for selection.

The player tested positive on Wednesday, October 21, and had not participated in training with the squad since October 13. The rest of the players on the panel are obliged to restrict their movements for 14 days (until October 27).

In a statement, Offaly GAA said that it hoped that the panel members would have been considered ‘casual contacts’ rather than ‘close contacts’ of the player who tested positive for Covid-19, under the regulations governing outdoor training sessions. since the games resumed in the summer.

“Offaly County GAA Board officials have been in contact with GAA officials in Croke Park since this issue emerged Wednesday afternoon,” the statement said.

“Our preferred option was to postpone the game, but we understand that this course of action is not possible as all GAA Championships must be completed in a short period of time.

“We look forward to participating in the second round of the Christy Ring Cup on the weekend of November 7-8, when self-isolating players will be available. They are currently taking advantage of the GAA rapid testing facilities.”

As players have been considered “close” rather than “casual” contacts, even if they test negative, they will have to restrict their movements until 14 days have passed.

Offaly officials stressed that they would be prepared to participate in Saturday’s game with an exhausted team.

“However, it is simply not feasible with more than 25 players out,” the statement continued.

The board also wanted to emphasize that they, team management, players, and backroom personnel have followed HSE and GAA guidelines regarding Covid-19 at all times.

“Finally,” the statement concluded, “Offaly GAA agrees that this is a short notice to our opponents ahead of Saturday’s game, but wishes to assure Kildare that since this matter came up Wednesday afternoon, we have been working tirelessly to prevent this unfortunate situation where the game cannot continue as intended. “

In previous statements to RTÉ Sport, Offaly Covid officer Colm Cummins admitted that the HSE decision took them by surprise.

“If this view is taken in any other case, it would have serious implications for all teams,” he said.

“We had a positive case within our senior hurling team this week. Unfortunately, that player had trained with the team early last week.

“When the HSE started their contact tracing, they analyzed the activities in the training session, which were all outdoors, and the big surprise for us was that they considered the players involved in that session as close contacts of that player.

“The premise for all GAA activities to come back to play was the fact that we were outdoors and we were all working on the assumption that if there was any interaction with a positive case, the fact that it was outdoors would leave all as a casual contact.

“For that reason, we were a bit surprised by HSE’s decision, but at the same time we have to respect the decision.

“The HSE, when it is conducting its risk assessments, looks at a wide range of things, including the rate of transmission within the community itself, but from Offaly GAA’s point of view, we are satisfied that the session itself adhered to all correct protocols.. “



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