Ulster GAA secretary slams GPA over training violations

Ulster GAA secretary Brian McAvoy has issued sharp criticism of the GPA, targeting their silence regarding counties engaging in collective training well ahead of the officially sanctioned return date of December 7.

In doing so, McAvoy bypassed any mention of the responsibilities held by Croke Park, provincial councils, or county boards in overseeing inter-county teams’ adherence to this timeline, instead placing the blame squarely on the players’ organisation.

McAvoy’s frustration with the GPA appears rooted in their role in pushing for the suspension of pre-season competitions, a move which resulted in the delayed training start date of 7 December for the 2025 season.

As the organisation tasked with safeguarding player welfare, McAvoy argued that the GPA had a duty to ensure its members complied with the designated return-to-training date. However, in his annual report, he accused the GPA of having had “zero contact” with the players they are meant to represent.

“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,” McAvoy wrote.

“[What] did the GPA say or do 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. It seems as if the argument of abandoning the pre-season competitions in order to save inter-county footballers from collective training in November was a fallacy.”

When the ban was lifted on December 7, that same day the Donegal senior team jetted off to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a warm-weather training camp as Jim McGuinness made the most of the GAA's training ban officially being lifted.

Elsewhere in his report, McAvoy went on to assert that the suspension of pre-season competitions had left “only losers” in its wake.

“County players seemingly still trained in November, supporters missed out on pre-season competitions, inter-county football teams missed out on an opportunity to trial the new rules in a semi-competitive environment, fringe county players missed out on the opportunity to represent their county, referees on a development pathway missed out on the opportunity to officiate at a higher level, Provincial Councils lost out on a significant revenue source and had the unenviable task of explaining to sponsors how competitions could be removed at a whim.

“Ultimately, clubs and young people lost out due to a reduction in both grants and programme delivery due to the associated revenue loss. One can but hope that the pre-season competitions will be restored to their rightful place in 2026.”