Farrell says new deal points way for players

GAA: Today's launch of the latest player sponsorship, less controversial than last week's but more lucrative, couldn't have come at a better time for the Gaelic Players' Association.

It has been negotiated between the GPA and Cantrell and Cochrane, the soft drinks firm, and will involve 10 leading intercounty players, including Peter Canavan and DJ Carey.

"It's not just an endorsement deal," says Dessie Farrell, chief executive of the GPA, "there's an awful lot more to it than that."

The timeliness of the announcement is that it follows a public argument between the players' union and the sports agency Drury Sports, which negotiated the sponsored hurls deal between selected players and a bookmakers firm. The GPA criticised the arrangement as exploitative and Fintan Drury hit back.

"We have an unrivalled experience in this country," he said, "and for the GPA to describe us as a PR company when we are the only people in Ireland with direct experience of managing individual athletes is mischievous. What he (Dessie Farrell) has actually done is expose the GPA's lack of knowledge and failure to produce any real results for the players it purports to represent."

"If we'd paid them it couldn't have been timed better," says Farrell, who will unveil the C&C deal today. "It was an ill-advised and poorly researched point. We have constantly sought out opportunities and provide an advisory service free of charge, which is different to PR companies."

Nonetheless, since last January's a.g.m. the GPA has been quiet in relation to finding sponsorships for its membership, on whose behalf it claims to act as sole agent. One of the problems in last week's controversy was that it exposed to scrutiny the notion that players act as one collective entity. Aside from negotiating individually with the sponsors and not putting the matter into GPA hands, the membership appeared split on the issue.

President DJ Carey said publicly players should be allowed to get their hurls sponsored, whereas Farrell's released statement was critical of the agreement, which earned players €750 per match.

"I think we were both clear about the exploitation," says Farrell. "DJ was talking in general terms about players benefiting from sponsorship, so I don't know that his comments contradicted mine. But I do know that you can be sure he wouldn't have done it for that money."

He is adamant players should talk to the GPA before concluding deals, something that isn't happening across the board, with last week's events adding to the Puma boot sponsorship announced last May, also by Drury Sports.

"Players don't have much experience in this area and it's important they do consult. I was amazed that the firm involved didn't contact the GPA or Croke Park, but then these guys want to do it as cost effectively as possible and they know that there would have been an added expense because we would have negotiated a better contract.

"This (the sponsored hurl) was mooted a couple of months ago. If we had been approached I'm not sure we would have gone ahead with it. We probably would have taken legal advice and maybe spoken to the GAA. Then we might have tried to identify a slightly different scheme where players could benefit without being threatened by suspensions and involved in a public outcry."

But the indications have been that not all players are convinced the GPA has a role and feel more than happy to conclude their own business. Wexford captain Paul Codd was actually critical of the GPA. Farrell denies that this is a major concern.

"Two of the Wexford players weren't members, or at least were lapsed members. In the second semi-final (Kilkenny-Tipperary) we had a better representation and those lads had grave reservations, and, having seen the furore over the first game, it's unlikely that they would have stayed involved even if the sponsors hadn't withdrawn.

"One of the players involved was unhappy and Paul Codd's entitled to his opinion, but our clear responsibility is to the collective. We have 1,200 members and have been complimented for the work we carry on."

In addition to turf wars over the right to represent players, the GPA has to cope with the economic downturn, which is certain to affect marketing budgets and promotional opportunities. Farrell says these effects can be offset by a shift in sponsor priorities.

"The market dictates and I don't know how the economic climate will proceed. But I think people will realise that players are the most viable sponsorship in the GAA and not so much major events. We're seeing this in other sports like golf. Headline sponsors are finding players a more appealing commodity."

But Gaelic games have their own inbuilt limitations. Even with recent championship reforms the number of guaranteed matches is still far too small for players to be that attractive to potential sponsors.

"That's a problem," Farrell says. "It's the same for team sponsors. They can end up with two games a year and then they're out of the big competition. The greater the number of matches the more the commercial opportunities.

"We have made that point to the Hurling Development Committee and have gone on the record on numerous occasions to say that we are grateful for the way, first, the football championship was enhanced, but it could be further enhanced by playing more matches during the summer.

"From the point of view of icons or heroes, the GAA hasn't capitalised on its players to compete with soccer. Cumann na mBunscoil have said that one of the problems in schools is that there aren't enough heroes. DJ (Carey) is by far the most prominent one, but there's not enough."

Finally, although relations with Croke Park have thawed of late - "Seán Kelly has always been player orientated," says Farrell - the controversy over the creation of an official Players' Committee has flared up again.

It has been GPA policy that their association should exclusively represent players. Kelly's attempts to recruit his committee met with little success in the counties and he agreed to park the idea until the championships were over. Farrell believes the deferral was a tactical retreat and disagrees with the idea that a representative body for players at official level has its merits.

"Ordinary players don't feel that. They have an independent voice, and when we had this out at the a.g.m. last January the lack of support for any change came through loud and clear. There's only a handful of counties left in the championship but they decided to shelve it. Whether they will revisit it I don't know."