The GAA are set to confirm a number of new safety measures amid Covid-19 ahead of the return of club championship fixtures next weekend.
RTE reports that 24 players will be the maximum allowed to enter the pitch enclosure during the course of a match, with five officials from each team allowed on the sideline in football and seven in hurling.
Dugouts will not be used unless they can accommodate social distancing and water carriers will be replaced by team water breaks between the 15th and 20th minutes of each half.
Each player will be assigned their own individual water bottle to use during the water breaks.
If anyone breaks the regulations, a referee can send them outside of the pitch enclosure.
Team selectors will not be allowed inside the pitch enclosure with a manager, a maor foirne, two medics and one administrator the only officials permitted, along with two maor caman in hurling matches.
Handshakes are to be banned, and spitting is also outlawed, with the latter rule likely to prove difficult to enforce or police.
Meanwhile, West Cork club Argideen Rangers yesterday suspended all group activities until Saturday as a 'precautionary measure' after members said they may have been in contact with someone who tested positive for coronavirus.
Club championships can get underway from July 17, with Argideen scheduled to face Dungourney in the Cork Intermediate 'A’ Championship.
The news comes after a club hurler in Kilkenny tested positive for the virus last week.
They have since recovered and their teammates tested negative following contact tracing measures. Club activity resumed after a seven-day precautionary period.
