The new grants scheme is in keeping with the association's amateur status but pushing the boundaries farther could lead to some sticky medium-term terrain.

IT'S A matter of choice what significance individuals attach to the various events that take place at the GAA's annual Congress but one of the most interesting proposals from last weekend was president Nickey Brennan's announcement that Rule 11, governing amateurism, is to be reviewed in order to make it more effective and reflective of modern realities.

That essentially means transporting the current rule from the parallel universe where it currently resides and returning it to what's familiar to earthlings as the GAA Official Guide.

By coincidence Rule 11 was our constant companion in the lead-up to Congress, as the battle raged over whether the government funding scheme for intercounty players was in contravention of the association's amateur status.

That emphatically turned out not to be the case, as both the DRA and Congress in the space of a few days declared the scheme in keeping with the rule.

But even if it was misdirected, the debate that raged had the merit of focusing attention on what exactly amateur status should mean on the cusp of the GAA's 125th anniversary.

For a start we can clear out the general points. The GAA membership at large frequently allows rules to mean exactly what it wants them to mean.

So after nearly 12 years of allowing all sorts of commercial activity to thrive regardless of the core provision in Rule 11 that: "A player, team, official or member shall not accept payment in cash or in kind in conjunction with the playing of Gaelic games," Brennan has sensibly decided that it must be redrawn to state what exactly the association believes, rather than what it says, to be the parameters of amateurism.

Despite this time-honoured blind eye, members opposed to the government awards decided that in fact the scheme and its contribution to defraying the expenses of playing senior intercounty was amateurism's Rubicon and its acceptance would change things forever.

On the specifics of the argument it was frequently asserted that under EU law, the GAA was running the risk of being in some way declared no longer amateur and open for legal challenges from disgruntled players wanting to move to a more successful county and based on the free movement of labour.

To soothe any potential panic on the subject the GAA sought expert opinion from Trinity Law School lecturer and barrister Alex Schuster, a former director of the Irish Centre for European Law. He said that he didn't believe the awards scheme brought the GAA under the provisions of the EC treaty on freedom to provide services.

Nonetheless the question of such legal frameworks is of interest in the context of any revision of Rule 11.

In the interest of getting an uninvolved view on the subject I received advice from the leading EC and Competition specialist in one of the country's largest solicitors' practices.

His view also doubted whether the European Court of Justice would decide that the government scheme was capable of altering the amateur status of footballers and hurlers.

Contrary to what had been claimed the much-cited Deliege case made no determination as to whether an ostensibly amateur Belgian judoka could be said to be conducting an economic activity because of various grants she received.

The ECJ left it to the national courts to decide whether her judo career constituted economic activity but rejected the claim that selection criteria for international tournaments constituted an unlawful barrier to her rights to pursue that economic activity.

Although sport when an economic activity is largely subject to the same rules as any other business its specific role in society is recognised under European law.

Declaration 29 (On Sport) annexed to the Amsterdam Treaty states: "The conference emphasises the social significance of sport in particular its role in forging identity and bringing people together.

"The conference therefore calls on the bodies of the European Union to listen to sports associations when important questions affecting sport are at issue. In this connection, special consideration should be given to the particular characteristics of amateur sport."

On the face of it this would appear to give some protection to the GAA's right to enforce county boundaries and affiliations.

In relation to the Deliege case that right was upheld in the context of international sport and given the cultural and social role of the GAA it would be hopeful of securing the same recognition.

According to legal opinion: "The court then stated that if it is assumed that Ms Dielege's activity can be classified as a provision of services it is necessary to consider whether the selection rules at issue in the proceedings constitute a restriction of the freedom to provide services within the meaning of the Treaty.

"The court found that selection rules that contain limitations as to who is selected are inherent in the conduct of an international high-level sports event. Such rules are not a restriction to the freedom to provide services prohibited by Article 59."

But it is also felt that the current sponsorships and endorsements that have been commonplace for over 10 years stand a better chance of triggering recognition of economic interest than the new government scheme.

It also has to be remembered that the current Official Guide also already allows the sort of player movement that is so greatly feared as creating an open market in players.

In order to secure a transfer all a player needs to do is take up residence in another county. A simple job offer will facilitate that and for all that the transfer can be held up, in practice counties and clubs rarely stand in the way of players who are determined to leave.

Given the intricacies of the subject it won't be easy to frame a new set of rules that defines what amateur status means at this stage of the GAA's evolution. In plain terms the consensus view is probably that players and managers shouldn't be contracted to - or otherwise paid by - counties or clubs in consideration of a professional or semi-professional livelihood.

Expressing that and enforcing it will be difficult but the ructions over the government awards scheme illustrates the strongest protection that amateurism has within the GAA.

The past few months have demonstrated that the membership in general is opposed to pay-for-play.

It has been decided that the scheme passed by Congress does not come into that category but the medium-term terrain doesn't look promising for any attempt to push the boundaries farther down the road to professionalism.

e-mail: smoran@irish-times.ie