Croker red faces as qualifier clash causes hasty reshuffle for ladies

CLIONA FOLEY of the Irish Independent reports:

THE GAA was left with egg on its face when the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) were forced to rearrange the timing of two of their championship qualifiers to avoid a disastrous clash with the plum tie in the last round of the men’s SFC qualifiers.

The problem came about when the GAA’s Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) fixed the Donegal versus Laois men’s game for 5.0 in Carrick-on-Shannon this Saturday.

They were clearly unaware that the LGFA had already pencilled in a double-header of their own senior qualifiers at the same venue. Donegal’s women were down to play Westmeath in Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada at 2.30, followed by Clare versus Kildare at 4.15, an arrangement that had been made last week, with the fixtures posted online.

Given that ‘inclusion’ is now a byword in Croke Park and that GAA president Liam O’Neill is a strong advocate of supporting the women’s associations alongside their own, it was an embarrassing error.

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