Final set to be moved out of Croke Park

National Football League: The GAA are now almost certain to fix the National Football League final on Sunday week for a provincial venue, a rare break from the tradition of playing it in Croke Park. There are several exceptional circumstances surrounding this year's final, including the direct clash with the European Rugby Cup semi-final between Munster and Leinster at Lansdowne Road.

The issue of where it would be played was discussed by the Central Games Administration Committee (CGAC) on Monday evening when they met to fix the semi-final venues, and the hurling quarter-final venues. It was agreed they would meet again on Sunday evening in Limerick, at which stage they would know the finalists from both Division One and Two.

With one Connacht team guaranteed to be in the final (Mayo play Galway in Castlebar on Sunday in one semi-final), and the other team being either Kerry or Laois (who meet in Killarney on Sunday), a southwest venue, such as the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick, would be make geographical sense.

And the CGAC are also known to be carefully considering the consequences of putting the game in Dublin when the city will be already overwhelmed by the hype and congestion of the high-profile rugby match, and which would add greatly to the inconvenience of the supporters, particularly those travelling from the south.

According to the GAA's information officer Feargal McGill there is plenty of justification to seek an alternative venue: "Even if you take the Munster-Leinster game out of it, it just doesn't make much sense from a geographical point of view to bring the final to Croke Park this year, not when we have the provincial venues available to us that would hold the crowd.

"But the other consideration is the Division Two final, which should be played as a curtain-raiser if at all possible. If Donegal are involved then it doesn't make any sense either to bring them all the way down to the Gaelic Grounds either."

The Division Two semi-finals this Sunday involve Donegal against Westmeath (set for Cavan) and Limerick against Louth, which was re-fixed for Newbridge yesterday after it was discovered that the original venue of Portlaoise was unavailable. That game now has a 3pm start, and like the other semi-finals will include extra-time if necessary. Depending on the outcome of those games the CGAC could yet have a hard time finding a suitable venue to satisfy a double bill of Division One and Two finals.

There are also financial and sponsorship implications of moving the game out of Croke Park, although they shouldn't be insurmountable given Central Council's recent ruling that more games should be set for provincial venues. The last time the league final left Croke Park was in 2002, when Tyrone met Cavan in Clones, while the 1999 decider between Cork and Dublin was played in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Both Laois and Kerry, meanwhile, have injury problems ahead of their semi-final in Killarney - a game which gives Kerry home advantage in a national competition for the first time in a long while.

Laois manager Mick O'Dwyer was understandably concerned about the nature of his injury problems. Defenders Pádraig McMahon (back injury) and Aidan Fennelly (hamstring injury) are both doubtful while forward Chris Conway is definitely ruled out as he awaits a full diagnosis on the knee injury sustained early in last Sunday's draw with Kildare. Barry Brennan, who retired at half-time in that game, is also an unlikely starter.

O'Dwyer's counterpart Jack O'Connor is awaiting news on defender Tomás Ó Sé, who sustained an ankle injury in the draw with Dublin, while forward Declan O'Sullivan continues to be hampered by a hamstring problem. Defender Mike McCarthy will again be ruled out with a wrist injury.