The chairman of Clare GAA says it’s too early to call a halt to all championship action this year.
However, Joe Cooney has conceded that there will have to be significant changes to the Championship, with the round-robin games in the Munster Hurling Championship a likely casualty.
It comes as the GAA is holding a Special Congress today, to consider changes to the competition structures.
COVID-19 has all but decimated the sporting calendar across the board, with virtually no sport proceeding in the past month.
Major international events such as this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games have been postponed, as have the likes of the Tour de France and Wimbledon.
The GAA too has had its struggles, with all training and matches now suspended for a month.
Today, the association is holding a special online congress meeting to discuss possible changes to the competition structure for 2020.
The meeting will empower the Association to make changes without consulting the broader membership, but there are fears in many corners that we will see the cancellation of this year’s All Ireland championships before long.
However, Chairman of Clare GAA Joe Cooney says it’s too early for that and is clinging to optimism.
Despite that optimism, though, a former Wexford hurler says he can’t see any All Ireland games being held in 2020.
Liam Griffin, who also hurled for the Banner’s Under 21s in the 1960s is echoing the views of Clare’s hurling captain John Conlon, who this week questioned how any games can be held before a vaccine for the coronavirus is in place.
Liam, who is an executive member of the Club Players’ Association, says we must plan for not having a championship this year and instead focus on surviving this crisis.
Meanwhile, the secretary of the Clare Ladies Gaelic Football Association has praised the community aspect of the GAA across the country during this time.
Despite not being able to get together in groups for training, Monica Callinan says their players are still supporting one another, and their communities, and they will come through this.
