Cork double header was a non-starter, says John Horan

GAA President John Horan has defended the decision not to accommodate the Cork football and hurling teams in Croke Park this weekend.

Cork supporters who want to go to both the Super 8 SFC clash with Dublin on Saturday and the All-Ireland SHC quarter-final against Kilkenny will have to fork out to stay in the capital or make the long trek on both days.

Horan said that it was simply unfortunate but nothing could be done.

"It would've been more desirable if you could put them together," he said.

"But when you talk about the Cork supporter, the Cork football supporter will be a different cohort to the Cork hurling supporter.

"The guy that bridges both, these things are unfortunate.

"It's positive from a Cork point of view that they're doing so well but you just can’t fit everything in.

"If you were trying to put three fixtures on a Sunday, where would you put a Dublin-Cork game? Are you going to put it on at 12 o’clock to get them all in? That’s the unfortunate thing."

Horan added that it was a healthy and safety issue that the capacity of Fitzgerald Stadium for Kerry's sell-out home Super 8s clash with Mayo on Sunday was reduced from 37,897 to 31,000.