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Ulster GAA boss slams GPA for not sticking to 'No Contact November' claim
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Ulster GAA boss slams GPA for not sticking to 'No Contact November' claim

Ulster GAA's chief executive, Brian McAvoy, has laid the blame on the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) for failing to ensure that teams and players adhered to the "No Contact November" rules they proposed in September.

GPA chief executive Tom Parsons had suggested that November should become a “zero contact” month at the inter-county level, following the decision to suspend pre-season competitions next year, with collective team training allowed to begin from December 7th.

According to McAvoy, the December 7th date was "flouted high and wide across the country," and he believes the responsibility for teams and players not following the return date lies solely with the GPA.

“As the body responsible for championing the welfare of their members, there is an onus on the GPA to ensure that their members adhere to the ‘return to train’ date," McAvoy stated in his annual report this week.

"The date agreed upon by the Central Council for the return to ‘collective training’ was December 7th for senior inter-county teams. Did this happen?

“The GPA issued a strong statement highlighting that November should be ‘a zero contact’ month. If even a fraction of the reports of inter-county collective training sessions taking place in November are true, then the December 7th date was flouted high and wide across the country.

Ulster GAA secretary Brian McAvoy. (Photo By Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

“Did the GPA say or do anything during this time to call this out? I’m not sure if they did or said anything. It seems as if they were true to their word and had ‘zero contact’ with their members on the issue during this time.”

McAvoy also criticised the lack of consultation or debate over the decision to scrap preseason competitions like the McKenna Cup, O'Byrne Cup, and Walsh Cup. He argued that feedback gathered from members should have resulted in these competitions being retained.

“This was a disappointing decision and one that was taken without any prior consultation with the provincial councils.

“A motion to reverse this decision at the October Central Council meeting fell just two votes short of securing the required 60% of voting members.

“A questionnaire issued by the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) to all counties on the future structure and format of the Football Championships included a question on the pre-season competitions.

“The results showed that 61% of counties opted for pre-season competitions to be retained, 10% wished them to be abolished, and 29% indicated that they would prefer a suspension of these competitions for a trial period.

“Based on this feedback, which indicated that a clear majority of counties favoured the status quo, the CCCC recommended to Ard Comhairle that the pre-season competitions be retained.”