Hurling league proposal welcomed

TWO of the counties protesting against the new hurling league structure have given tentative support to the anticipated compromise proposed by the GAA’s Management Committee.

An extraordinary Central Council meeting will take place Tuesday where eight counties will put forward a motion calling for the six-team divisional system to be changed to eight counties per division.

However, their proposal will require two-thirds majority backing, which will be extremely difficult considering the Division 1A and 1B structure voted in last month was carried by 28 votes to 16.

As a consequence, the Management Committee are expected to retable their motion calling for Division 1 to be split into two groups of six but with the top two teams in the lesser Division 1B joining the top four teams in Division 1A in the knockout stages.

Their recommendation would see the top two teams in Division 1A go through to the semi-finals with the teams finishing third and fourth facing the best two teams in Division 1B.

Kilkenny chairman Paul Kinsella, who heads up the counties’ group alongside Tipperary secretary Tim Floyd, would not be drawn on whether the All-Ireland champions would back the alternative if it comes to it.

“The motion was sent on Friday and we only heard of this (Central Council meeting) yesterday (Wednesday) evening so there hasn’t been time to discuss it,” said Kinsella on behalf of the group.

He added: “We (Kilkenny) have to try and resolve the first issue first. Otherwise, there was no point putting forward a motion in the first place.”

Kinsella maintained there is a strong conviction among the eight counties to see the motion through.

“The nub of the matter is teams played for promotion and relegation last year then found a whole new ball game come August. The bottom line here is that an injustice has been done to somebody.”

Kinsella welcomed the decision to stage the special Central Council meeting on Tuesday as the next scheduled convening is November 12.

“The league has usually started in the second week of February so from a fixtures point of view it gives more time. The main thing is this is something that has to be resolved.”

Waterford chairman Tom Cunningham also reacted positively to the GAA’s willingness to address the issue as quickly as possible but suggested the county may be amenable to the compromise.

“It’s not a bad compromise and it’s the next best thing but we’d hope our motion would be passed,” said Cunningham. “We gave a commitment we’d stick together. We all said we’d stand by Limerick and Wexford, who we feel have been treated unfairly.”