Amateur Status not on agenda

THE GAA will not present the Amateur Status recommendations for approval at this afternoon’s Central Council meeting. The meeting will be held in-camera.

This afternoon’s meeting, the traditional pre-Congress central council gathering, will be attended by county chairmen and secretaries and should generate plenty of debate.

Items on the agenda include the financial difficulty currently being experienced by many counties, the forthcoming Special Olympics and the topic of the Voluntary Player Insurance scheme.

Generally, the Central Council meeting, held a week before Congress, gives county officials the chance to articulate opinions in private on pertinent issues before heading to Congress next weekend.

Croke Park says that any views expressed over the Amateur Status report will be taken into consideration before the report is finalised.

Out-going GAA President Sean McCague formed the Review committee last October to re-examine certain areas of the initial Amateur Status report.

They held their final meeting last Tuesday, fuelling speculation that they would present their final report this afternoon.

Although the identities of those on the Committee is secret, it is known player welfare is among their chief concerns.

McCague made the decision to establish the Committee after consistent meetings with the GPA last year.

The GPA, still recognised by the vast majority of the players as the players’ group, made a proposal for €127 a week to be paid to each inter-county player as a form of compensation.