Last-eight draw is delayed for a week

The four provincial champions will have to wait until next Monday week to find out their opposition for the All-Ireland football quarter-finals. Originally the draw was scheduled to take place on Sunday evening, but the Games Administration Committee (GAC) have sought the deferment as a result of this season's revised quarter-final calendar.

Unlike previous All-Ireland quarter-finals, which went ahead on the August Bank Holiday weekend, the upcoming games have been set for the first two Saturdays of next month, August 7th and 14th. The GAC have looked to stage the draw on the Bank Holiday Monday, August 2nd.

The Connacht and Ulster champions, Mayo and Armagh, are out the first day, and so will have only six days' notice of their opposition. Kerry and either Laois or Westmeath will play their opponents on August 14th.

With two of the fourth-round qualifiers set for Sunday week - Dublin against Roscommon and Tyrone against the losers of Laois-Westmeath - plans to stage the draw this Sunday were deemed impractical. The last four qualifier winners will then be drawn against the four provincial champions, with counties that have previously met in the championship being kept apart.

It was also confirmed yesterday that the GAC decided to fine rather than suspend both Tipperary and Kerry for their failure to fulfil championship fixtures this season. Tipperary pulled out of their first-round football qualifier against Fermanagh after manager Andy Shortall resigned, and Kerry failed to enter the hurling qualifiers because of lack of player interest.

Both county boards appeared before the GAC to explain the reasons behind their withdrawal and, under rule 116 (b), could have had their senior teams suspended for 48 weeks for failing to fulfil a championship fixture. Instead the GAC landed both boards with a 5,000 fine and issued them with a warning over their future conduct in the qualifiers.

It was also disclosed that the Armagh County Board was landed with a 1,000 fine as a result of the breach in half-time regulations during the Ulster football final at Croke Park.

Joe Kernan's team was over two minutes late for the second half against Donegal on July 11th, a practice about which they had been warned before. County officials pointed towards a medical problem in the dressing-room as the reason for their delay, but the GAC ruled that regulations had been breached consistently enough to merit the penalty.

The Gaelic Players Association (GPA), meanwhile, have reiterated their commitment to seeking state recognition for intercounty footballers and hurlers in light of the pending departure of Charlie McCreevy as Minister for Finance.

In a statement released yesterday, the GPA said they would continue to press for taxation benefits comparable to those enjoyed by professional sports persons in Ireland for the past two years.

They highlighted the growing demands being placed on players under the championship format, saying that some players are finding themselves committing to three games of the highest calibre in successive weeks, to the detriment of their jobs, families and physical wellbeing.

"The GPA does not accept the Government's flawed appraisal that the issue of player welfare is a problem for the GAA only," said the statement. "Both the GAA and this Government are guilty of nonchalance towards our players.

"A government that has given a hand-out to professional athletes must be held accountable for ignoring the plight of the stakeholders in our national games, and the GPA will continue to agitate for satisfaction on this basis alone."