Páirc tipped to stage International Rules test

This autumn’s International Rules series looks set to take place in Ireland due to a lack of suitable venues in the US, with Páirc Uí Chaoimh fancied to stage the first of the two-test series.

As a means of marketing their own game, the AFL have been determined to organise one of the tests on the east coast of the US, before travelling to Ireland to conclude the series the following weekend.

Philadelphia’s Franklin Park had been earmarked as a potential venue but, as the Irish Examiner reported in January, the GAA had ruled it out. Former director general Páraic Duffy visited the 53,000-capacity stadium, home of the University of Philadelphia, before Christmas and he dismissed it due to the artificial surface.