London refused permission to travel to Ireland for championship preparations!

Taken from HS Online UK -

The GAA has refused London permission to come to Ireland and play two SF challenges.

The Exiles wanted to play the two matches next weekend - against Wicklow on Saturday and Louth on Sunday - as part of preparations for their May 26th Connacht SFC opener against Sligo.

However, the GAA has refused to sanction the friendlies due to a technicality, even though all the arrangements were already in place for the trip.

Rule 12.6, which was introduced to stop county teams from going abroad to warm-weather training camps in the build-up to the championship, forbids intercounty panels from participating in "training weekends, or training of longer duration, after the end of their respective national leagues, except during the 13 days prior to a senior championship game."

Ironically, this rule is now being used to block London from coming home to play.

"It is not like we are going abroad or anything," London manager Paul Coggins states in The Irish Independent.

"We are actually going 'home' and only because that is the only way we can get the sort of quality of competition that we need so badly to prepare for the Connacht championship”

Your views please? Personally i am disgusted by the GAA on this one! How can they state that Ireland is 'abroad' for London who are playing in an All Ireland championship? Do they really want London in the championship with behaviour like this?

Little surprises me when it comes to the GAA and red tape. It is obsessed with it. Scandalous ruling, but such idiocy isn't surprising.

Absolute madness

A rule was brought for reasonable reasons without thinking that it shouldn,t apply to london
Who cant play a game without it being anmiverseas weekend,

Okay maybe an honesr mistake but they had the power to make an exception on application.
Application is made. Refusal

Pure pig headed stupidity.

In effect some lad from wicklow working on the buildings in london is not allowed travel back to wicklow.

A serious mis-judgement by CP here. Talk about promoting the game among the diaspora....
Given the fact that all 3 "counties" were likely enough happy to procced with the matches makes the decision even more stupid.