THE STAND-OFF between Sport Ireland and the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) has been resolved according to a joint statement released by both parties and the GAA this evening.
The payment of 2018 grants to inter-county players was initially withheld by Sport Ireland in May due to the GPA’s failure to release the home addresses of its players.
The players’ body was unhappy with Sport Ireland’s “11th-hour” decision to withhold the grants due to a development that required ”members sign up to a range of new measures including the provision of home address for home drug testing”.
An agreement between both parties has now been reached with the requirement that the inter-county player’s “residential address information is provided to the GAA on or before 31 March of the year in respect of which funding is payable.”
The statement read: “The Gaelic Players Association (GPA), the GAA and Sport Ireland confirm that the outstanding matters in relation to the anti-doping addendum to the inter county player eligible expenses schemes have been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.
“The 2018 payment of state grants will be made in the coming days, while details of the application process for the next round of funding will be communicated to inter-county players in the coming weeks.”
The statement also included an agreed addendum to the inter-county player eligible expenses schemes:
Anti-Doping Addendum to Memo of Agreement between GAA & GPA for Disbursement of Funding provided under the Sport Ireland Inter County Player Support Schemes 2017 – 2019
i. Players shall comply with and be bound by the Irish Anti-Doping Rules;
ii. Players shall participate in the Irish Sports Anti-Doping Programme and undertake, as required, anti-doping testing, including the taking of blood and/or urine sample, in competition or out of competition;
iii. Players shall understand that a refusal to submit to a test will have the same consequences as if the Player had tested positive;
iv. Players shall know the substances and methods which have been included in the Prohibited List (as may be amended from time to time) and to take responsibility to make sure that any substance ingested by the Player does not violate the Irish Anti-Doping Rules;
v. Any player on a County Panel shall not be eligible to apply for or to receive funding under the Sport Ireland Inter-County Player Support Scheme unless the following pre-conditions are met:
a) He can confirm completion of the GAA’s Anti-Doping e-learning course or attendance at an anti-doping education session conducted by the GAA on or before 31st March of the year in respect of which funding is payable (i.e. by 31stMarch 2019 for players partaking in the 2019 Championship season);
b) That his residential address information is provided to the GAA on or before 31 March of the year in respect of which funding is payable.
vi. Any player who joins an Inter-County Panel after March 31st of the year in respect of which funding is payable, shall prior to his first championship game, confirm completion of the GAA’s Anti-Doping e-learning course or attendance at an anti-doping education session conducted by the GAA and his residential address information shall be provided to the GAA as pre-conditions to eligibility for receipt of funding under the Sport Ireland Inter-County Player Support Scheme.
It is, in addition, confirmed that Sport Ireland shall be entitled, subject to compliance with the requirements of GDPR, to request from the GAA, and the GAA shall be entitled to release to Sport Ireland a player’s residential address information for the exclusive purpose of anti-doping intelligence. Any request for and any transmission of a player’s residential information shall be subject to compliance with the requirements of GDPR. It is acknowledged that a constituent element of any consent given to the GAA by a player in respect of the use of his residential address information shall provide for the potential onward transmission of that data by the GAA to Sport Ireland where the purposes of anti-doping intelligence so demand.
The entitlement to retain and store a player’s residential address information shall not extend beyond the 31 March of the year following that in which addresses are provided.
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