New York GAA manager Monty Moloney has said that New York's participation in hurling and football championships is now "dead" because of Antrim's refusal to play the Ulster final in the US.
"They wouldn't dare come over here because they were afraid they were going to get their ass kicked," said Maloney.
And he claimed the Antrim decision had "killed off" New York's ability to compete in Ireland, just when the city's hurling and football teams were making great progress.
Moloney said he was expressing the anger of New York GAA officials after Antrim refused to allow the game to be played in New York following an emergency meeting with New York GAA chairman Séamus Dooley in Belfast last weekend.
New York had pleaded with Antrim to allow them to play the final in New York because the majority of the New York team do not have US visas and would not be allowed back into the country if they returned to Ireland for the Ulster final.
Maloney said that, after a Ulster Council meeting, it looked as if Séamus Dooley had secured a meeting - possibly on August 15th. "We had Croke Park pleading with them. It's just amazing that, over all the years, the GAA in the US has helped so many people get jobs and a place to stay and a help out and as soon we are a real threat on the pitch, Antrim don't want to play us.
"The bottom line is that they are afraid to come here. They are afraid they'll get their ass kicked. They only won in New York last year because we had four players sent off and the ref carried them. They saw us beat Westmeath last year and Derry this year and they ran off scared.
"It's alright to host games when there's a monetary interest. We wine and dine players and then, when we're good enough, they run away from us."
Some Antrim officials had suggested that the two sides could play in Boston in August if Antrim wins the Christy Ring Cup. However, Maloney said that any New York victory in such a game would not be respected.
"Would that really be considered an Ulster final win for us, played so late in the year? If we won, they'd come up with all sorts of excuses not to honour it. It's a waste of time."
Meanwhile, the Galway footballers have suffered a serious blow with the news that the versatile and long-serving Paul Clancy is out for the year with a career-threatening injury.
Clancy suffered a knee injury playing for Moycullen against Caltra in a club championship game on Monday, when he was carried off late in the game. His worst fears have been realised following a scan in Dublin, with confirmation that he has torn his cruciate ligament in his right knee and will require surgery and a lengthy recovery period.
Clancy's injury comes a week after Joe Bergin was ruled out for up to six weeks having also been injured in a club game.
The double injury blow reduces Peter Ford's options ahead of Sunday week's clash with Roscommon at Hyde Park.
