GAA criticised by US board

Allegations that players from Ireland violated GAA rules to play illegally in the United States last year have been made by the North American County Board (NACB).

The board claims that some players failed to register properly with the GAA or had forged signatures and other documents. The NACB also claim that the Central Council of the GAA exceeded its powers in dealing leniently with recent cases.

The PRO of the NACB, Eamonn Kelly, who is based in Chicago, is keen to prevent adverse publicity about the way the GAA operates in the United States and Canada and to control the involvement of players - the `carpet-baggers' - not properly registered or sanctioned for games under their jurisdiction.

Commenting on reports of the suspension of inter-county players who played illegally in the States last summer, Kelly says: "In particular the suspension of players imposed by the New England Board, a division of the NACB, for playing illegally in Boston, was the centre of attention. While the Central Council of the GAA lifted those suspensions on purely procedural grounds, this does not mitigate the seriousness of the rule violations. "Despite claims to the contrary, the NACB believes that there is clear and convincing evidence that these players seriously, and probably deliberately, violated basic GAA rules either by failing to register as players seriously and/or by playing under a false name and/or by forging a signatures and/or forging other documents. "The North American County Board regard these as very serious charges and regret that proper procedures were not followed in processions suspensions."

The statement goes on to point out that the Central Council agreed in 1959 to bye-laws enacted by the NACB that its decisions cannot be appealed to the Central Council. The NACB therefore seems to suggests that the Central Council has exceeded its powers in recent times.

Gaelic games affairs in North America are controlled by three separate autonomous bodies. These are the NACB, which has jurisdiction over all of the United States with the exception of the New York metropolitan area and part of New Jersey. That area is controlled by the New York Board while the Canadian Board has jurisdiction over all of Canada.

Tommy Barrett, the long-serving Tipperary County Board secretary, said there is a stigma attached to the "back door" entry to the All-Ireland hurling championship for the beaten provincial finalists.

He said the Tipperary team management and players did not like the back door tag. "Had we won, I doubt if it would be accepted as graciously as under the old structure. There is a stigma attached to it which is greatly emphasised by many in the media, in particular when a prominent hurling county is the beneficiary," said Barrett at the county convention last Sunday.