TIME TO MAKE A STAND & LAY DOWN THE LAW

Club Players Association demand that Croke Park chiefs come down hard on any county teams found to be flouting rules on training dates

in tatters, and the lockdown will extend until August.

Wimbledon was cancelled altogether while the French Open has been moved to September and is due to start one week after the US Open men’s final.

World number one Novak Djokovic and reigning U. S. Open men’s champion Rafa Nadal are among the players who have expressed concerns about attending the New York tournament.

Nadal said earlier this month he would not travel to the US Open in present circumstances while Djokovic said playing the event this year would be impossible given “extreme” protocols that would be in place.

Last year’s edition drew an all-time attendance record of nearly 740,000 fans and the event is the engine that drives the governing USTA. won just eight of their 23 League and Championship games across 2018 and 2019.

But they finished 2019 strong by surging to the Super 8s and won all five of their Division 3 games this term before the Covid shutdown.

Cork’s minor and U-20 teams also won All-irelands in 2019 and Mccarthy, speaking on The Score Podcast on

THE Club Players Association is demanding the 11 week window provided for club games by the GAA is enforced by sanctions if necessary.

With club games greenlighted to start from July 31, a number of counties have already disclosed their planned club championships schedule.

But the CPA fear that a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity for the club game to gain parity with the county game is being wasted – with club games being shoe-horned into an even tighter schedule to accommodate the return of inter-county teams.

Inter-county training can start up again on September 14, while inter-county games can get underway on October 17 under the guidelines of the GAA

Cork’s 96fm, said everyone wants to play now.

Mccarthy said: “Today, I’m happy to say that every fella who is on that panel, his passion is Cork football and his first choice is Cork football.

“We contacted people in 2018 to come into the panel and they didn’t come, they didn’t feel it was an attractive enough proposition, people return to play roadmap.

Wexford, for example, have indicated that the club hurling championship will be completed by late August with time after that also needed to run off the club football Championship as the fixture headache in dual counties bites.

Now the CPA is demanding that GAA chiefs ring-fence the club calendar by applying existing rules and sanctions.

Unhappy that some counties have proposed ‘blitz competitions’ to get club fixtures quickly out of the way, the CPA said the issue is about parity of esteem for club versus county.

The club body also wants Croke Park to explain what action will be taken to ensure inter-county players are not asked or compelled to resume training with their county panel before their club championship is over.

The CPA stated: ‘We call on Croke Park through the powers vested in the management committee at a Special Congress held on April 17th, to use those powers to take a stand