GAA moves to block players' exodus to US

The GAA has put on hold applications from players wishing to travel to America for football or hurling purposes.

It prohibits all weekend authorisation and permit applications for players travelling to New York, and all sanction applications for the North American and Canadian boards.

Yesterday's decision by Management Committee, understood to have been initiated by GAA president Seán McCague, followed an unprecedented level of concern expressed by club and county units regarding the numbers of players invited by the North American and New York county boards to play under their jurisdiction.

Management Committee will discuss the issue further at its meeting this weekend, with the possibility of putting a long-term block on all such applications. Though the process of players travelling to America has been greatly regulated in recent years the enticements to travel remain, with a consistent uptake from both club and county players.

The issue of county players travelling to America was clearly exemplified in recent weeks within the Donegal football panel. Star forward Brendan Devenney travelled to play with Donegal-New York the week before the Ulster semi-final against Cavan, and John Gildea and Adrian Sweeney were on the verge of departing for Boston in the aftermath of the Ulster final defeat to Armagh.

Though both players have been talked into remaining until the end of Donegal's championship run, there continues to be a high level of dissatisfaction and disillusionment - and not just in Donegal - at the current drain at both club and county level.

Although the deadline for current applications was this weekend, Management Committee was under increasing pressure to act sooner rather than later. According to Pat Daly, head of games at Croke Park, the level of interference at club and county level demanded something be done. "I don't think clubs were prepared to put up with it anymore," said Daly. "It is like a mass movement at the moment, and that is having a fall-out at both club and county level.

"In recent years the travelling mostly involved club players, which was one thing, but now you're looking at county players too and that situation has never raised itself in the past. This exodus you have now has fuelled a lot of disgruntlement at club at county level."

There are, however, problems at the other end too. Efforts to develop and promote Gaelic Games by the North American clubs, especially in areas like Chicago, Boston, New York and San Francisco, are greatly undermined by the influx of Irish players.

Under current regulations teams in America can have nine Irish players in the side. With those nine places invariably taken up by incoming Irish players, the American clubs are finding it more difficult to keep locally-based players involved.

Yet there is significant competition between clubs, especially in the New York and Boston areas, who are willing to offer numerous perks (mostly well-paid jobs) to entice the Irish players to the US.

In rural areas like Donegal and Connemara, such transfer of players can have decimating effects on the club championship.

Yet Clare's Noel Walsh, a member of Management Committee, said it's unlikely that a complete block on the travel will be implemented. "In my own opinion that would be too drastic an action at this stage," he said. "For a start it would be hard to stop student players going out to America for a couple of months, for what may be their only chance of making an earning during the summer.

"And I think the situation regarding players travelling to say New York has been made a lot more satisfactory and regulations are improved on what was a very unsatisfactory situation in the past. The problem is that players are still going in big numbers at a vital part of the county championship, a time when clubs are very reluctant to lose them."

Daly also highlighted the impact that travelling players has had on county championships: "Most of all these applications to travel were to ensure some movement, and to facilitate students who wanted to play in America for the summer. When county players become involved as well then it does create an uneasy tension, but it shows that there's no easy solution either."

There are currently a variety of applications for players wishing to travel to America. Weekend authorisation or permit applications for periods between 60 days and four months are available for New York, while sanction applications, only for a minimum period of 60 days, are available for all other areas in the North American County Board and Canada.