Cortoon Shamrocks anger as Adrian Varley to miss rescheduled semi-final over Covid test

Galway club hit out at the refixture of their county IFC semi-final with Dunmore McHales 

File picture Adrian Varley, Galway 

Galway club Cortoon Shamrocks have hit out at the refixture of their county IFC semi-final with Dunmore McHales which will cause Galway player Adrian Varley to miss the game.

The game had been scheduled for last Sunday, until Varley, a primary school teacher, took a call on the morning of the game confirming that one of his students had tested positive for Covid 19. Varley was obliged to self-isolate immediately, pending being tested himself.

Having contacted his club and the Galway management, Cortoon Shamrocks notified the county board, as their statement, released today, confirms: 

"The club then contacted the county board to make them aware of the situation and to request the postponement of the game as the player in question was in close contact with a number of other panel members including a family member in the days prior to this call. As a club we could not go ahead with this game and risk the health and wellbeing of our players, the opposition players or any of the other officials or individuals who would be attending the game. We were very surprised that the Galway county board advised us that the game must still go ahead despite our concerns over the welfare of all involved. As a club we had to make a decision not to field a team on health and safety grounds and we informed the county board of this decision."

Varley has since received a negative result after a Covid-19 test, but must still isolate for 14 days since his last contact with his student on Wednesday 16th September.  However, the semi-final has been fixed for this Sunday, much to Shamrocks' annoyance.

"When we were informed of the rescheduled fixture, we requested a meeting with the County Board and Dunmore representatives to seek a resolution which would allow for our player to take part in the fixture taking into consideration that he acted in line with all recommendations laid down by the HSE.

"This meeting took place yesterday evening 24th September. Unfortunately, the Dunmore McHales representative would not under any circumstances agree to the fixture being moved back by three days to Wednesday 30th September to allow the player to take part. As an agreement couldn’t be reached between the two clubs, the Galway County Board insisted that the game must proceed this Sunday 27th September.

"The Cortoon club sees no reason why the semi-final cannot be refixed for Wednesday 30th or the weekend of October 3rd as has happened in other counties.

"Adrian has acted with the utmost honesty and integrity since being informed of the news last Sunday morning. As a teacher he is performing an essential service for the public and he can now not take part in Sunday’s game having trained since last November to try and captain his team to a county final. We feel this is a very unfair way to treat a player who has acted at all times in compliance with the guidelines from the HSE."

The club has issued a plea to the Galway County Board for a 'fairer' resolution:

"Outlined on the GAA website under mission, vision and values, there are words mentioned such as “player welfare”, “respect”, “opportunity to participate fully”. Our club has had player welfare to the forefront of all decisions we have made but we feel we have not been treated with respect and our player has not been given the opportunity to participate which goes totally against the bedrock of the GAA organisation.

"We ask the County Board and the Dunmore McHales Club to reconsider their position given the unprecedented circumstances surrounding the pandemic and in the interest of fair play."