GPA: Players struggling to survive

THE chief executive of the Gaelic Players Association has revealed some of his members are “genuinely struggling to put food on the table” due to the economic downturn.

The number of inter-county footballers and hurlers seeking financial assistance through the GPA’s benevolent fund continues to escalate but Farrell is convinced that the problem may be worse than the figures suggest.

In the 12 months or so since the fund’s establishment, the players’ body has been providing its members with sums of up to €3,000 — and sometimes more, in extreme cases — in order to alleviate financial pressures.