[ad_1]
Former GAA President Seán Kelly finds it “strange and surprising” that inter-county activity is no longer allowed under Level 5 restrictions when last winter’s All-Ireland Championships were played in such a safe and successful manner.
GAA Chairman John Horan said today that the reason GAA no longer enjoyed elite status under Level 5 restrictions was the inability to operate inside a bubble.
GAA communications director Alan Milton said earlier in the day, said the GAA was under the impression that the waiver granted last fall to facilitate the running of the 2020 Irish Championship was moved to 2021. This point of This view contrasted with comments from Minister of State for Sport Jack Chambers, who said the GAA, LGFA and the Camogie Association were informed last October that the waiver that allowed the Irish championships to take off ended at the end of December.
The commentary from the top GAA commanders over the past six weeks and the public discussion they participated in regarding when the 2021 season would begin suggests that Croke Park was unaware that Gaelic games between counties were no longer exempt at Level 5 from Living with the Covid plan.
Croke Park did not clarify whether they knew, prior to this week’s meeting with government officials, that new concessions were needed to hold inter-county competitions in 2021.
In response to inquiries from Irish Examiner, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media said: “In correspondence with the GAA, the Camogie Association and the LGFA on October 22, the Department informed the three associations that the decision of the Government of Allowing Inter-County Championships to Proceed on Level 5 Restrictions was a concession outside the framework approved by the Government in the Recovery and Resilience Plan 2020-2021: Coexistence with COVID-19 Plan. The letter confirmed that teams eliminated from the championships would have to suspend their training activities thereafter. “
With the concession allowing inter-county activity concluded at the end of December, former GAA President and Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly said it is “not good enough” that GAA units are only aware of this development six weeks later.
“Obviously the GAA was caught off guard and that would indicate that they did not have a direct line or were not given complete information,” Kelly said.
“When it was allowed last year and cross-county players were considered elite athletes, if the GAA had no indication that that was going to change, then why would they have to clear it before the 2021 season? Why would they be removed from that category unknown to themselves and why would they expect to be removed from it?
Someone, somewhere decided, look, we’re going to remove GAA from this.
Given that the 2020 All-Ireland Championships have been an “outstanding success” at a time of national lockdown, Kelly admitted to being perplexed that the GAA is now in cold storage until early April.
“It seems a bit strange that the last time the GAA was classified as elite athletes, the Irish Championship was concluded on that basis and it was an outstanding success that did much for the social fabric of society and possibly mental health and quality. of the lives of many people in a pandemic. It is surprising that they have not now classified as elite athletes. “
Waterford hurling manager Liam Cahill told local radio that this week’s developments are throwing the entire championship, and its structure, “up in the air.”
“The concern here is the rank of elite status. For my part, I did not know that it had been removed, “he said in WLR FM.
“It’s a real headache for GAA now. I know their hands are tied in many ways because they are governed by the health authorities and what they say, but it will take a lot of maneuvering to achieve a structured championship. It really looks like it will be well into the summer before we get back on the playing fields. “
As for what the 2021 inter-county season might look like each time GAA resumption of activity is authorized, former GAA President Kelly believes another direct knockout soccer championship should be considered.
“The only positive is that when GAA goes live they will be able to get through the entire season, whereas if they go live now they could come up with a program and may have to change it again.
“They really should consider doing it like they did last year, by knockout. Truncated league, knockout championship and club championship, if that is feasible within the deadline. “
[ad_2]