THE GAELIC PLAYERS Association has voiced its frustration at the GAA’s decision to cancel the outstanding Allianz Football League games in Division 4.
Croke Park confirmed on Monday that the games which were postponed due to bad weather – Waterford v Leitrim, Wicklow v Limerick and Laois v Antrim – will not be refixed as an agreement could not be reached due to scheduled club fixtures.
Several Division 4 managers were very critical of that decision, with Wicklow manager John Evans, Limerick boss John Lee and Waterford’s Tom McGlinchey all blasting GAA chiefs for their treatment of the bottom tier teams.
And a statement from the players’ body last night said they were contacted by a large number of players from the affected squads who are “angry that once again they were not consulted on key policy decisions that directly impact them.”
“The GPA have been working closely in recent days with the teams involved and we were very disappointed that the players were not asked for their input before the games were cancelled,” said GPA President David Collins.
“We appreciate that the county boards are under pressure and that adverse weather conditions have complicated the inter-county fixture planner, but there is no excuse for not consulting players before announcing the cancellations.
“These cancellations will cause significant disruption to teams who are preparing for the championship. The GPA will continue to meet with GAA representatives to make the case that such unilateral decisions are unacceptable and must not be repeated in future. Open dialogue with players is a far superior approach to handling situations like this.”
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