A LEADING Ulster GAA official says that the Ulster Council is not expecting the provincial championship to begin before November.
He explained that Ulster officials were planning that there would be no Ulster SFC within the current accounting year (which ends on October 31).
He said: “It would be a bonus if we get a Championship earlier than that but, given the fact that the club season is likely to come first (if there is one) we think it’s highly-unlikely that we’ll have any sort of a Championship within our current accounting year.”
Yesterday, GAA president John Horgan refuted weekend reports that plans were underway to enable inter-county teams to resume training at some point in the summer
“We’re regularly in contact with Government departments and at no stage have we discussed a return to training of inter-county players with any Government department,” Horan, speaking on the Today with Sean O’Rourke programme on RTÉ Radio 1, said.
“I’m aghast as to where this story has come from.”
The GAA President reiterated that there would be no return to playing or training until health authorities say it is safe to do so.
He said: “The one thing about the playing of games is they’re a contact sport and while social distancing of two metres is a high priority at the moment, I can’t see contact sport coming on board in the short-term.
“People talk about gatherings of crowd and all of this. But the key thing is when will the health authorities declare that contact sport is safe? Until then, we really cannot make a decision about returning to play.
“That’s the key question in it all. When will contact sport be safe?”
Horan said that the club season would be prioritised once the green light is given.
