THERE will be no official GAA communication on when county teams can return to training until next week at the earliest – but it is looking increasingly likely that there will be no activity until March 5.
Counties had been due to return to training on January 15 but, following the introduction of tighter lockdown restrictions, this was put back until the end of January. Some kind of announcement had been anticipated today, with director of player, club and games administration, Feargal McGill, stating last week that the GAA “won’t be making a decision or even discussing it until Friday 29th”.
However, the Association’s Covid-19 advisory group – which guided the Safe Return to Play last year - will only meet for the first time this year on Monday, and further information could be forthcoming following their recommendations.
The GAA’s management committee met virtually on Wednesday evening too, confirming that no inter-county training or games would take place before the Irish government considers potentially easing current restrictions.
The management committee will review the situation again on that date, with the government expected to provide further clarity on the potential lifting of restrictions.
So what is the knock-on effect to the inter-county calendar as a consequence? Due to the ongoing uncertainty, the GAA had factored in possible delays and complications in its initial fixtures template for 2021.
Considering it is widely accepted that a minimum four week pre-season period will be required, the anticipated delay could see the start of the National League – which was scheduled to get under way on the weekend of February 27/28 – pushed back until the beginning of April.
Top-flight teams in the National Hurling League could also end up being split into four groups of three, similar to the compacted, regionalised format which has been brought into play for its football equivalent.
This would inevitably lead to a later start for the Championship, with the All-Ireland finals – slated for mid-July - moving to August. It’s also possible that the All-Ireland club semi-finals could be taken out of the 2021 programme and switched to early 2022, similar to its previous incarnation before the 2019/20 campaign.
Meanwhile, a blueprint to dramatically change up the All-Ireland Championship from next year on was put to county managers during a conference this week.
The proposal for a league-based series, with the provincial Championships retained as separate entities, will be brought to annual Congress. This is one of two options for structural reform that has been tabled by the GAA's fixtures taskforce for debate on February 27, and is understood to have the backing of several county managers.
It would see the National League switched to the summer as a feeder for the All-Ireland SFC knockout stages and second-tier Tailteann Cup, with the provincial championships moving back to spring.
The second option involves rebalancing the existing provincial structure by moving one county from Ulster and three from Leinster to form four regional groups of eight.
Either would need 60 per cent support to pass at Congress, with the Championship reverting to either the most recent situation with provincial Championships, back door and Super-8s, or going back to how it was pre-2017 with Championship and back door.
