Potential rules breach forces Mayo to cancel training camp

THE Mayo senior football squad will not be travelling to Portugal for a six-day training camp as planned next week after it was discovered that the trip would have been in breach of GAA regulations.

The county panel and team management were due to depart for Brown’s resort in Vilamoura next Sunday, May 9, and return in time for a challenge match against Cavan in Belmullet on Saturday, May 15.

However, Mayo GAA Chairman, James Waldron, one of the main organisers of the trip, learned earlier this week that a ruling brought in over two years ago as part of the GAA’s measures aimed at tackling burn-out and affording more time to club fixtures meant the training camp had to be cancelled.

The rule is framed under the heading, ‘Inter County Players Availability to Clubs’ and states: ‘Riail 6.23 (b) provides that senior inter county panels shall not be permitted to go on training weekends or training of longer duration after the final of their respective National League having been played, except during the 13 days prior to a senior championship game (20 days in the case of an All-Ireland final).’ The cancellation of the warm-weather training camp will be a source of major disappointment for management and players as plans and travel preparations were at an advanced stage.

GAA spokesman Alan Milton last night explained: “The rule was brought in so that club fixtures wouldn’t be disrupted. If there were 30 guys going away that was bound to effect some clubs who have fixtures and it’s unfair as they thought they’d have access to their players. The rule aimed to streamline the fixtures calendar. In the case of Mayo, I don’t think there was anything untoward in their decision to organise a training camp, this rule just wasn’t on their radar. When administrators change in various county boards, information like this can sometimes slip through the cracks. Everyone appreciates that certain counties place importance on training camps. We’re not saying they shouldn’t have training camps but they should have them at the time of least inconvenience in counties.”