Duffy calls for debate on amateurism

GAELIC GAMES DIRECTOR GENERAL'S ANNUAL REPORT:GAA DIRECTOR general Páraic Duffy has called for a debate on the future of amateurism within the association. Speaking at the launch of his annual report in Croke Park yesterday, Duffy said he had a problem with the contradictory attitudes that allow Rule 1.10 of the Official Guide to uphold amateurism and at the same time pay team officials under the counter.

“The first thing I’d say is to put it in context. The vast majority of managers and coaches aren’t being paid and it’s important to say that but I do have a problem with our clearly espousing amateurism as a core value because our membership wants it that way while at the same time there is enough anecdotal evidence that some managers and coaches are being paid.

“I’m proposing that we establish a committee to bring forward ideas on this and initiate a debate on the issue.”

In his report the director general laid out his concerns on the matter.

“Over the past 10 years the need to address this issue has been raised, without ever resulting in an effective response. The option of implementing a strictly amateur code (as currently defined) demands that clubs and county boards be prepared to accept the requirements of Rule 1.10 and be willing to impose penalties on those in breach of this rule. That is not happening.

“What, then, should be done? The least acceptable option is to continue to proclaim a value and, at the same time, ignore it. And expressing a determination to address the issue (genuine as the intention may be) is meaningless unless followed by effective action.

“I believe it is time to call on the expertise available to us and establish a committee to examine the current situation with a view to bringing forward proposals in late 2010 that will allow a debate throughout the association on the best way to deal with this difficult problem.”

The last time amateurism was addressed on such a scale was in the 1997 report of the Amateur Status Committee, which proposed that players be allowed earn money from promotion and endorsement activities.

Duffy created some controversy last May when unscripted comments at a lecture by Prof Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh of NUI Galway – The GAA at 125: the Challenge of Change – were quoted in this newspaper.

“The biggest, the single most difficult issue we face are under-the-counter payments to football managers,” he said, citing the example of two “very well-known businessmen” paying €30,000 to “a well-known mercenary manager”.

Yesterday he said that he believed many members, even those whose clubs are engaged in paying managers, would like to see the situation resolved.

“The president and I have visited many clubs over the past year and there remains a lot of backing for the rule on amateurism but also a belief that everyone else is doing it and that it’s the only way forward. I would say there’s an anxiety to break the cycle of these payments. But there is also a realisation that there are considerable pressures on managers at inter-county level.”

The director general also addressed the matter of match bans rather than time-based suspensions, taking an advocacy position in favour of reform in his report.

“Delegates to congress will be aware of the inclusion of a motion on match bans from the Grattan Óg club in Longford on this year’s clár,” he writes.

“The idea of specific “match bans” in the GAA has long been suggested as one way of addressing the inequities that arise in terms of suspensions in our games.

“This situation is particularly noticeable at inter-county level, where the irregular nature of fixture scheduling means that at times there are frequently four or five-week gaps between championship games and in a scenario where the “four weeks” suspension is the most common in our games, it leads to a situation where many players effectively do not miss even a single game, despite being suspended for four weeks.

“There are two main reasons for this anomaly:

“Under our current system, a next game in the competition Category II or III suspension does not carry from the leagues into the championships.

“A Category II or III suspension incurred in the last championship game of the season is effectively meaningless, as under the current system any suspension incurred does not carry forward to the following year.”

His report goes on to outline some damning statistics on the current situation.

“Thus, there is a clear imbalance in the system that needs to be addressed. For example out of 68 suspensions of four weeks or more handed down at inter-county level in 2009:

“Eighteen players effectively never missed a game at all as there was no “next game in the competition” to apply it to; 27 players who received four-week suspensions missed one game; nine players who got four weeks missed two games and two players who got four weeks missed three games.

“Of the 16 players who received eight-week suspensions: four missed no games whatsoever, four missed just one game, one missed two games, one missed three games, five missed four games and one missed five games.”

The director general said that his comments were without prejudice to the Grattan Óg motion but that if it didn’t succeed, he was confident that the matter would be followed up and placed on the clár of next year’s congress.

For the full text of the GAA's Annual Report, visit www.irishtimes.com/sports/gaa/