A DUBLIN CLUB has expressed its disappointment after the county board rejected their appeals for a fixture postponement due to Covid-19 concerns.
Clanna Gael Fontenoy hit out at the Dublin higher-ups, claiming their “players consider they’ve unfairly paid a price for playing it safe.”
The Ringsend outfit were meant to face Ballyboden St Enda’s in the Dublin Junior A hurling quarter-finals on Sunday, but asked for the game to be deferred to a later date due to Covid-19 concerns.
One of the Ballyboden players had tested positive for the virus days before the game, and as a statement from the club today reads: “Clanns were unable to fulfill the fixture on Sunday 23 August because of the understandable, genuine public health concerns of our players.”
The statement claims that Ballyboden were amenable to a deferral, though the Dublin county board was not. Clanns were deemed to have forfeited the game.
“Clanna Gael Fontenoy GAA Club (Clanns) are very disappointed at the decision of the Dublin County Board not to accede to our request to have the junior A hurling championship quarter-final game with Ballyboden St Endas deferred to a later date due to our Covid-19 related concerns,” it added.
Very disappointed at DCB decision not to reschedule our Junior Hurling match v @bodengaa due to Covid-19 related concerns. Players feel they’ve unfairly paid a price for playing it safe - https://t.co/qlhBsFL0vH @DubGAAOfficial @eoinryan101 @RTEsport @offtheball @RnnMacLochlainn
— Clanna Gael Fontenoy (@Clannagaelfont) August 26, 2020
“Given the particular circumstances of this case, including the short time frame for consideration, our players had real and understandable concerns for their safety and health and that of their families and communities,” Bernard Barron, Clanna Gael Fontenoy Chairman, said.
“As a result, we simply sought a deferral of the fixture to a later date to allow a longer period of time to elapse after the infected player’s last point of contact with his fellow Ballyboden players. This would have been in line with the deferral of matches involving other Dublin clubs due to Covid-19 concerns.
“Our players daily face a level of Covid-19 related risk in the lives they lead and the work they do; and they knowingly accept a level of risk in order to continue playing the game of hurling. They continuously balance their desire to play with that risk.
“However, their judgement, supported by the club, was that in this particular instance that level of risk should have been further ameliorated by deferring the fixture for a short period of time. We believe this would have been in the interests not just of all players and team officials involved, but their wider contacts and communities.
“We very much regret that the Dublin County Board didn’t see things this way; and our players consider they’ve unfairly paid a price for playing it safe.”
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