Ulster hurling semi-final called off as London row intensifies
London were to play Armagh in a Nicky Rackard Cup game in Crossmaglen tomorrow afternoon while their Ulster SHC semi-final against Down was fixed for the following day.
Not surprisingly, the county board sought to have one of the fixtures postponed but the Ulster Council had refused to switch the Down game citing the congested fixture calendar by way of explanation.
There was speculation London would withdraw from the Ulster competition but, in a statement, the county board said it hoped: “that common sense might prevail at this late stage and that the game will be re-fixed for a later date”.
The county board also signalled their intention to fly back to London on Saturday night on pre-arranged flights come what may and the Ulster Council duly confirmed later in the day that Sunday’s game had been cancelled.
“No team should be required to play two competitive championship matches in 24 hours,” said London hurler and spokesperson John Joe Burke.
“This is a serious player welfare issue and it is hard to think of any other squad being asked to fulfil such a farcical schedule. As far as we’re concerned, there is no reason why the Ulster Council can’t apply some flexibility here, the Ulster championship does not feed into the national competitions. Of course we want to play the two games but within a rational timeframe.”
However, Ulster Council chiefs hit back by pointing out that all their hurling championship fixtures had been made last October and that the Nicky Rackard Cup schedule was made subsequently and should have taken existing arrangements into account.
The Council’s statement said that: “The existing schedule takes account of the complete championship engagements of all of our counties and the singular interest of London cannot supersede all other arrangements.”
It was also pointed out that they were only notified of London’s intention not to play four days before the match was due to take place but the statement did not explain what will happen next.
