Club Players’ Association challenge ‘unfair’ decision to cancel games

The Club Players’ Association has described Monday’s decision by the GAA’s management committee to suspend immediately and indefinitely all club activity as unfair on players.

In a statement released on Wednesday morning CPA chairman Micheál Briody said he had been contacted by a lot of clubs since the announcement, appealing to have the chance to finish out their campaign.

Six county finals in football and hurling are among the fixtures affected by the nationwide stoppage of games.

Speaking to RTÉ on Monday evening, GAA president John Horan explained that the association felt that it had no option after further social media evidence of county final celebrations in clubs that did not observe public health guidelines.

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The CPA have outlined the reasons why they believe the GAA management committee should allow outstanding adult championships to be completed behind closed doors:

- The number of club players who are only a few days away from completing their season is minimal.

- It is extremely unfair that they should be left hanging for the next number of months not knowing when their finals will be played.

- According to guidelines they can and most likely will continue to train until their games are played, which may contribute to further transmission and risk.

- The extra costs of training over the coming months will put further financial pressure on these clubs who have been unable to raise funds in 2020 like other years.

- Finishing the competitions will allow all clubs to have full closure on this season, and give players and mentors an uninterrupted break with their families at this difficult time.

The CPA also added that they “agree that the lack of social distancing in some stands is totally unsatisfactory and the after-match behaviour in a few clubs has been disappointing, to say the least.

“However we feel that cancelling club games is unfair on players who through no fault of their own are being denied the chance to finish what has been a unique and challenging season.”