GAA NEWS:A TOTAL of 92 intercounty GAA players were drug tested in 2010 – with all of the tests returning a negative for signs of doping.

The news comes as anti-doping procedures in the GAA crank up again for the start of the new season. The figure of 92 tests being carried out on hurlers and footballers is one of the busiest recorded since the GAA signed up to the Irish Sports Council’s anti-doping programme in July of 2001.

It’s understood 60 per cent of the tests were carried out after matches with the other 40 per cent taking place when testers visited training sessions. The issue of submitting the GAA’s amateur players to the same dope testing demands as elite Olympic level athletes and sports professionals was at one point a contentious issue for the GAA. However, it was an unavoidable step with the Irish Sports Council insistent that all sports bodies in receipt of funding were part of its anti-doping controls.

GAA players are briefed on medical information through the players’ group the Gaelic Players Association and also from Croke Park’s dedicated Player Welfare department, headed by Feargal McGill.

The clean bill of health is welcome news for the GAA. Since testing began in 2001 there has been only one recorded case of a positive result from testing GAA players. However, that case involving Kerry footballer Aidan O’Mahony in 2008 was later dismissed after he was able to prove that traces of Salbutamol in his sample were the result of him being a life-long asthmatic who used an inhaler for medical reasons.

- Four of lastnight's Dr McKenna Cup games – Armagh v St Mary's, Donegal v Fermanagh, Tyrone v UUJ, Monaghan v Cavan – were postponed following pitch inspections.