CLARE FOOTBALL BOSS Colm Collins has spoken out about the fact that GAA players shouldn’t have to play when Gaelic football and hurling returns.
The GAA today announced that no inter-county games will be played before October amidst the Covid-19 crisis though it does plan to hold championship games — club and county — this year.
And speaking on RTÉ’s Game On earlier, Collins shared his belief that players should not be pressurised into returning to competitive action in any way. Their amateur status, for one, gives them the right to refuse to take to the field if they’re uncomfortable.
While not ruling it out, the GAA say there is a ‘lack of appetite’ for the staging of games behind closed doors. Collins said that initially he would have welcomed the behind-closed-doors approach, but his view has since changed.
“Firstly, I think it’s very important that we finally have got some clarity,” he said after today’s announcement.
“The players were really roaring out for this. It was very difficult for them to have no guidelines. Although it came late in the day, it’s great that we got it eventually.
“My own initial thoughts on it were that I’d rather have behind-closed-doors [games] than nothing else if it was a last resort. But the more I think about this and the more players I talk to, I don’t think there’s an appetite for it.
If there’s any danger to players, I wouldn’t be for it, no.”
He pointed out how some players are “very conscious of the dangers” as many have at-risk people with underlying conditions in their circles, so he would respect their decision to abstain from playing.
“GAA players are not getting paid for this,” he continued. “They’re amateurs. If my livelihood was, for example, a soccer player, it would be an entirely different question.
This is not their livelihood, and while I would dearly love to see inter-county games going ahead, it’s very important to distinguish here between what your livelihood is and what your pastime is. If I have to go to work because it’s my livelihood I’ll take all the precautions in the world — but I don’t have to play.
“More than anybody, I’d love to see games played. But the last thing I want is for any player or their extended family to be put in danger by pressure to play.”
On the prospect of a winter championship, Collins added: “These are strange times. There’s something being fired at us that nobody could have envisaged.
“We’re going to have to make the best out of that situation. If it means maybe coming out watching games in inclement conditions, it wouldn’t be the first time! I think we’ll handle that.”
You can listen to the full interview here.
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