GAA president John Horan has refused to rule out the possibility of a knockout Championship format returning on a permanent basis.
Given the unique circumstances created by the Covid-19 pandemic with the GAA opting to run the Championships in a tight timeframe over the winter months, the second chance has been removed from the football Championship for the first time in 20 years, although there is a back door in hurling.
The cut-throat format has engaged the public, particularly with Cork’s sensational last-gasp victory over Kerry in the Munster semi-final, though whether there would be an appetite to reintroduce knockout football on a long-term basis is very doubtful.
When it was put to Horan on RTE’s Morning Ireland, he replied: “I’m sure that’s a debate that people are going to have over the next coming weeks but the original argument for qualifiers and that was to give teams more games for the amount of training that they actually put into it but certainly, the format that’s in existence at the moment is causing great excitement and it is really down to the wire.
“You’re looking at these matches and you’re saying, ‘It’s going to be decided today, someone’s gone’ and that in itself creates an extra buzz about watching the actual game.”
The GAA announced last week that two proposals for an alternative football Championship (an evening of the provinces to four eights or adapting the current League format for the Championship) is set to be put to Annual Congress in February, though there is nothing to stop another unit of the Association forwarding a motion for a return of the knockout days, as unlikely as it would be to succeed.
“I’m not the one that’s going to make that call!” said Horan when it was suggested that his answer wasn’t a rejection of the knockout format returning beyond 2020.
Meanwhile, Horan insisted that the integrity of the Championship hasn’t been undermined by Sligo footballers not fulfilling their Connacht semi-final against Galway, who move on to play Mayo in this Sunday’s Connacht final without having kicked a ball.
Ten of the Sligo players tested positive for Covid-19 though in a statement released on Friday night, the squad insisted that they wanted to play the game.
Horan said: “Well look, in fairness, I don’t think the integrity of the competition has been undermined in any fashion at all.
“I think it was always one of the risks of us trying to run a Championship competition in a pandemic era, that there was a chance that some team may have to fall by the wayside but it was unfortunate.
“My greater concern at the moment would not be the match but that the individuals themselves that contracted Covid would be doing well and making a good recovery for themselves.”
