O'Dwyer calls for €10,000 payment per man for finalists

With Sunday's Leinster football final heading for a record attendance of 82,000, the managers of the two participating teams - Dublin and Laois - have called on the GAA to improve the financial compensation offered to players.

Laois manager Mick O'Dwyer yesterday suggested the teams that get to the All-Ireland finals should get €10,000 per player.

Dublin manager Paul Caffrey agreed that players need to be better rewarded for the loss of earnings. Both managers ruled out the option of pay-for-play, but felt the days were over when the GAA could sit back and watch as the players filled Croke Park - and not get a penny in return.

"The two teams that get to an All-Ireland should get €10,000 a man," said O'Dwyer. "Players are out of pocket no end for the amount of work they put into this game.

"A lot of these players have to break off work at four in the evening to make training, and are losing money there.

"You'll have over 80,000 people in Croke Park on Sunday, and not one penny going to any one player, and they're the ones putting on the show, providing all the entertainment. And I think that's wrong."

As the season heads towards the business end of the championship, Croke Park is set to be filled close to capacity for the next nine Sundays up to the All-Ireland hurling final on September 11th.

This Sunday's match will attract a sell-out crowd of 82,000, a record attendance for a provincial final, and will generate around €1.25 million for the Leinster Council.

While Caffrey acknowledged that player welfare has improved significantly since the establishment of the Gaelic Players' Association, there was, he said, still a long way to go. As it stands, the only sign of appreciation the players get is four complimentary tickets.

"The commitment and number of training sessions that the players have put in is phenomenal," said the Dublin manager.

"It's like going to the theatre where the people putting on the show, the people performing in front of you, are the only ones not getting a penny of the share. There needs to be more appreciation shown."

Michael Delaney, secretary of the Leinster Council, explained that it would take a change in GAA policy before any such financial rewards could be introduced.

"It's not something the Leinster Council can do on their own," said Mr Delaney. "Right now we just don't have a choice, because something like that would have to be made association policy.

"It would mean a whole new mindset for the GAA. That's for the GAA politicians and power makers to decide, and something that would have to come before Central Council and Congress."