Donegal boss Jim McGuinness has hit out at the tight turnaround for the winners of their Ulster SFC quarter-final against Derry on Saturday.
McGuinness takes the Division Two champions to Celtic Park on Saturday evening where they will face Anglo-Celt Cup holders Derry.
Whoever emerges from that tie will play the winners of the next day’s Cavan v Tyrone match next Sunday.
The Donegal boss, who won three provincial titles during his previous stint at the helm, believes the condensed calendar has taken a little value from the Ulster Championship.
“If we were to get over the line against Derry, all it would get us would be a spot in the next round,” he said.
“And you only have seven/eight days to do that which belittles the competition.
“I don’t know how manager can do his job in that time frame.
“I don’t know how a player if he fully invests in that game. I don’t know how they can recover in that timeframe either.
“I think it is almost impossible to train in that week.
“You know we have all played Ulster Championship football, and you are sore for three days.
“You are trying to get back on the pitch on the fourth day and then you are looking at a game against Cavan or Tyrone the following weekend.
The Glenties man, who guided his county to the All-Ireland title in 2012 and last month saw them win the Division Two final against Armagh in Croke Park, believes the gruelling scheduled is doing a disservice to fans who turn up to watch the semi-finals
“Who that is serving as a spectacle,” he added.
“They are charging from €25 to €30 into the game and you are playing players that have a level of tiredness and soreness and fatigue, so I don’t know who that serves.
“It does not serve the manager and it does not serve the players and the spectacle will be impacted.
“So it is not serving the supporters either and I just don’t get it.”
McGuinness added that the decision to play the U20 Football Championship on a round-robin basis further impinges on a packaged calendar and doesn’t take player welfare into account.
“That is a joke and they talk about the welfare and development of young players and these are the same boys who are playing Sigerson football,” said.
“So for me, who are we serving and why are we doing round robins? The answer to that is money and that is the bottom line.”
The Donegal manager feels that the current timetabling of senior and U20 Football Championships does not have the best interests of management, players and spectators in mind.
“Playing Championship matches in April on soft pitches is not on,” he said.
“I don’t know who that is serving and all of these things, I think that conversation has to be kept alive because there are too many decisions being made for the wrong reasons with the people who are most important at the heart of it.
“I include the players, management and supporters in all of this.
“Everybody wants to see good football and I don’t know how you do that in a seven-day turnaround.