Donegal GAA Secretary warns unregistered players

Unregistered players will not have any injuries covered by the Player Injury Fund, the secretary of the Donegal County Board has warned.

Membership at Donegal GAA clubs has fallen starkly in the last year - with the reduction in numbers at 30 percent. Declan Martin, secretary of the Donegal County Board, will present his report to Annual Convention on Monday night and has warned that clubs must at all times only play players who are registered.

“One large cause of concern would be the dramatic reduction in Membership registrations in some clubs,” Martin writes. “There is an overall reduction of adult membership in Donegal of 30%, from 11855 in 2020 to 8239 in 2021. With a total of 9 clubs having a reduction of over 50%.

“The reduction in some clubs leaves the number of Members registered less than the number of players they need for the Adult teams they have entering competitions. This needs to be addressed as teams cannot play unregistered players in Competitive games, and the unregistered members are not covered under the Player Injury fund so no injury claims would be approved should an injury occur.”