Suspended Mayo plan their next move

Women's Gaelic Football: Officials from the Mayo women's football board were last night discussing their next move after the central council of the women's association dramatically suspended the county from all activities under their governance, including the forthcoming All-Ireland championship.

The absence of Mayo, the defending champions, would be a considerable blow to the profile of women's football.

The central council's decision was made at their meeting on Wednesday night and followed a lengthy and often difficult mediation process started up after last year's championship, when Mayo broke new guidelines on the brand of gear to be worn in All-Ireland semi-finals and finals.

Originally that landed Mayo with a €22,000 fine, which they consistently refused to pay.

Central to the conflict has been the deal that the Mayo women's football board last April agreed with gear manufacturers Azzurri.

Shortly after that the women's football association entered a new agreement with rival manufacturers O'Neill's, part of which required the teams that made the All-Ireland semi-finals and finals to wear O'Neill's gear.

Mayo wore their Azzurri gear throughout last year's championship, including their memorable final win over Dublin. But that left the women's association with little choice but to impose the fine for breach of their rule.

In an effort to find common ground an independent mediator was then brought in, at the request of the Mayo board, in the person of GAA Connacht Council chairman and Mayo native John Prenty.

He came up with a set of recommendations, including a reduction of the fine to 2,200 and that Mayo ask central council for permission to wear Azzurri gear for one year.

Once the Mayo board refused to accept the entire set of recommendations, the women's association clearly felt themselves forced into yesterday's announcement, which has rocked both sides in the dispute.

Helen O'Rourke, the chief executive of the women's association, said such a dramatic move was their last resort.

"We were very saddened by this decision, which was only arrived at after the association exhausted every possible attempt to resolve this issue since last November," she said.

"At a time when everything is going so well for the association it is unfortunate we find ourselves in this position, but we are still hopeful that this issue can be resolved."

It is almost certain the Mayo board will appeal the decision back to central council and one last effort will be made to break the long-running impasse. In the meantime, though, Mayo's scheduled football league semi-final against Waterford on Sunday has been cancelled until the appeal has been officially lodged.

And according to a statement from the women's association, this decision can only be overturned "if an appeal is lodged by the Mayo county board that highlights new evidence under the guidelines of the association's rulebook".

At one point Mayo threatened to seek a High Court injunction to prevent the women's championship from going ahead if they were unable to take part, but even at this stage that is unlikely to be their next move.