THE GAA are awaiting clarification from the Irish Government on the “medical hurdles” that would need to be cleared before any headway can be made on whether playing matches behind closed doors or in front of a maximum 5,000 fans is viable.
In an effort to minimise the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic the Dail issued new guidelines this week banning mass gatherings - including sporting events - until the end of August and a government statement explained how events with crowds of more than 5,000 would not be licensed until at least the end of the summer.
That statement had led to conjecture that truncated football and hurling Championships could be played in the autumn but a member of the GAA management team described such talk as “speculation without substance” and confirmed that the possibility of playing county games behind closed doors has still not been discussed by the GAA’s new management team.
GAA Director of Communications Alan Milton added: “There are many medical hurdles to cross before you could even consider that (playing games behind closed doors).
“I don’t expect we will get clearance either - not if concerts can’t go ahead. The first possible return to action will be clubs with very small figures but that doesn’t factor in the social distancing issue around players competing for possession etc. It’s all hypothetical at the minute.”
There was a chink of light for sports fans yesterday with news that the top two divisions of the German Bundesliga could resume next month. While their European neighbours Italy, France and Spain have all recorded Coronavirus death tolls of over 20,000, Germany’s rigorous testing policy seems to have kept the deadly virus at bay. As of yesterday, German health authorities had carried out over two million tests, one and-a-half million more than the UK.
The 36 professional clubs of the Bundesliga and the second division met yesterday and German Football League (DFL) chief executive Christian Seifert said action could return as early as Saturday, May 9.
"If we start on 9 May, we are ready. If it is later, we will be ready again," he said.
"For us, what is decisive is what the politicians will decide. It is not for us to decide when.
"Games without spectators are not what we want - but at the moment the only thing that seems feasible."
As in the Republic, the German government recently decreed that large events with crowds will be banned at least until the end of August which means Bundesliga games cannot be played in front of spectators until the scheduled start of next season.
The only way to work around regulations is to stage spectator-free games, with only players, coaching staff, medics, referees, ball boys and ball girls, ground staff, technicians, safety officers, and production staff for television and VAR being present inside the stadiums. League officials estimate that up to 300 people are needed per match.
