Government must back up GAA action

LAST weekend’s GAA Congress was, as expected, a fairly tame affair.

About the only thing to really rouse any passion outside of the hall was the vote against transparency for delegates’ votes by a completely unsurprising 83% of those said same delegates’ votes.

The Club Players Association in particular were left exasperated by the decision and it’s easy to see why. What have delegates, bound supposedly by votes at county board level, to fear by having their votes made public?

It feels a pretty reactionary move by the GAA to be honest, but would you expect any different? Delegates will always, without sustained pressure, vote to maintain their prerogatives. That, however, doesn’t mean the Association is incapable of positive change.

Congress’ decision to ban sponsorship by betting companies, for example, is hugely encouraging. The influence of betting companies in sport feels all pervasive at times and it’s easy to see how people could fall under its spell.

The GAA have done precisely the right thing, but it needs to be backed up by legislation from government banning advertising from betting companies in much the same manner as tobacco advertising is.

We’re going to look back in a twenty years time at the current level of advertising by betting companies in much the same way as we look back now at tobacco advertising – with incredulity that we could ever have been so naive.

On this the GAA is ahead of the curve.