Virus impact on sport will take time to heal
By Shane Brophy
Tipperary County Board secretary Tim Floyd feels it will take some time for GAA supporters to become confident about attending games again when they resume because of the Covid-19 outbreak.
As things stand the GAA remains shut down until April 19th while Tipperary County Board have postponed all activity until April 26th.
“By the end of April, there might be a slightly clearer picture,” Floyd said over some kind of easing of restrictions which has seen teams unable to train as all club facilities remain closed.
Today, Wednesday 8th April was supposed to have been the start of the championship for the Tipperary minor footballers but that has been pushed out to April 22nd but that is unlikely to go ahead on that date.
What happens to the high profile summer senior inter-county championship will also be focusing many peoples minds with it set to begin in just four weeks time but that is highly unlikely with new formats set to be put in place for whenever it can take place, including a return to the old knockout/backdoor format.
However, whenever matches do take place, Floyd believes spectators won't be flooding back in their droves.
“There will be a fear in people, especially older people who would be fearful to attend matches, particularly if a vaccine hasn't be found,” he said.
If that is the case, it could lead the GAA to possibly deferring the championship to later in the year as hosting games in the summer with big crowds is unlikely to be allowed by public health officials and it may well be that club championships could be the first to take place when matches are allowed to resume.
One possible option would be to link the closing stages of the championships to the Bloody Sunday Commemoration in November following the cancellation of the International Rules Series. The second test between Ireland and Australia was due to take place at Croke Park on Saturday 21st November, along with the Bloody Sunday Commemoration football match between Tipperary and Dublin.
However, the series was cancelled last week due to the Coronavirus outbreak which leaves commemoration organisers with a hole of what to now put on with the commemoration football game to guarantee a big crowd at GAA headquarters for a huge occasion to mark the centenary of when fourteen people were shot and killed by crown forces on November 21st 1920, including Tipperary player Michael Hogan.
An All Ireland Hurling Final that weekend could give the GAA the high profile occasion is needs to commemorate such a key moment in Irish history, with the football final possibly being played the weeked before to guarantee Dublin's participation in the commemoration game against Tipperary.
Certainly, fixture planners within the GAA, locally and nationally, have a lot to consider when the timeframe of possible competition becomes a little clearer in the coming weeks and months.