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Galway’s senior team were unsatisfied with a response from the Gaelic Women’s Football Association during the eleventh hour and the change of venue for last Sunday’s TG4 All-Ireland SFC semi-final against Cork.
The Tribuswomen will not make any public statement yet, as they fully process the letter received from LGFA, but insist that all they were looking for was a simple “sorry” from their Association.
Galway lost to Cork 2-17-0-13, but what really left them devastated was the chaos that ensued after the game moved from frozen Parnell Park to Croke Park.
Even more crucial, with HQ hosting the men’s semifinal at 3.30, the serve time was originally moved up half an hour to 1pm; the game finally started around 1.10pm.
Galway coach Tim Rabbitt later said he regretted not leaving the court after officials told him they had “six minutes to warm up.”
Followed a Tomorrow Ireland interview with LGFA president Marie Hickey, which drew harsh criticism after she suggested Galway would have had more time to warm up “if they hadn’t spent so much time in the dressing room.”
Hickey spoke of his belief that the LGFA was “doing something brilliant” by making use of Croke Park on short notice, and confirmed that they did not ask the GAA to consider a delay in the Mayo-Tipperary men’s game.
In the wake of the controversy, the Galway panel wrote to the LGFA and has since received a response.
“The communication and recognition were well received, but did not reach the full apology that we feel was owed to the team,” noted a message from the panel.
They added that “the most important thing is that real proactive steps are taken now to ensure that this does not happen to more players in the future.”
A source from the panel told the Independiente.es: “With the whole situation, we would have almost gotten over all the craziness with the place until the president came out and said those ridiculous words about locker room time. It was the best kick in the teeth, to be honest.
“Regarding the response to the letter, they acknowledged that decisions were made and were probably made incorrectly, but they never actually said the word ‘sorry’, and that’s all we were looking for.
“We were training for 12 full months and it all came down to that, and now he’s gone. He just left,” concluded the player.
Online editors
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