DOWN county chairman Jack Devaney says they were left with no choice but "make the arbitrary decision" to expel RGU Downpatrick from the senior football championship.
Downpatrick had been due to face Carryduff in a round two tie that had been delayed until Friday after a bereavement in Carryduff.
It had then been due to take place on Friday night but the emergence of a Covid-19 case in Downpatrick meant they had to request a further postponement.
Their club also suffered a bereavement over the weekend but Devaney said that having been offered a 72-hour postponement under the regulations, that the Covid case had been deemed part of “a cluster” and would have left Downpatrick unable to field until early next week at the earliest.
“Our understanding is that the team are out of commission for two weeks,” said the Down chairman.
“Over the weekend, we’ve asked them [Downpatrick] to clarify their situation. They did have a bereavement on Friday and we are conscious of that, it was a difficult situation to deal with.”
Devaney said that the clubs had signed up to the regulations before a ball was kicked.
“It would be different if it was an arbitrary decision, but it’s not – it’s something we had all agreed with before we headed into the championship, so everyone knew that was the story with it.
“As it stands, they won’t be able to fulfil the fixture. That’s the question we asked, whether they would be able to fulfil the fixture.
“Our understanding was that they wouldn’t be able to fulfil the fixture any time this week, that it would be into next week before that could happen.
“It’s unfortunate on Downpatrick, it’s not their fault, it’s not anybody’s fault really. As it stands, they wouldn’t be out of self-isolation until some time next week.
“We got clarification weeks ago on this after some initial confusion around if there was a positive case and others got a negative test, they’re ok to continue participation – that’s only on the basis that you’ve done it of your own free will and Public Health haven’t been in contact with you and determined you as a close contact.”
Carryduff are now due to face Longstone this evening in their round three clash, with the winners taking on Bryansford in the quarter-finals this weekend.
Officials from RGU Downpatrick could not be contacted yesterday to comment.
