Fury as GAA says it can’t let Roy play charity game at Páirc Uí Chaoimh

Calls for sport body to bend rules for fundraising match

CONTROVERSY erupted yesterday after it was revealed that the GAA would not allow the 45,000-seater Páirc Uí Cháoimh be used to host the Liam Miller tribute match in September.

As a result of the GAA’s Rule 42, which prohibits sports other than Gaelic games at GAA venues, the tribute match was forced to move to Cork City FC’s home ground at Turner’s Cross, which only holds 7,000 people.

Currently, Croke Park is the only stadium which has permission to host non-GAA sports following a vote in 2005.

The tribute match for Ireland soccer international Liam Miller, who died aged 36 of pancreatic cancer earlier in the year, was formally announced on Wednesday and all money raised will go to his family.

A whole host of retired soccer stars will be taking part in the event, including former Manchester United players Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs, Louis Saha, Rio Ferdinand, and Paul Scholes.

They will play former Ireland national team players, who will be managed by Martin O’Neill.

According to the GAA, the noforeign-sports rule can only be overturned by a GAA Congress vote of 60%, and the earliest that can happen is next February.

Former Kerry footballer Tomás Ó Sé expressed his frustration with the rule on Twitter yesterday. ‘Every pitch except Croke Park has to go before Congress for permission for outside use. So even though Cork County Board were open to letting the Liam Miller testimonial match go ahead in Páirc Uí Chaoimh (45,000), they can’t use it and it will be in Turners Cross (7,000). My God,’ he wrote.

In the past, there have been rare occasions when the GAA calls a special Congress. The most recent of these was in September last year, which resulted in changes to the structure of the Senior Hurling Championship. However, that was planned out five months ahead of time and a special Congress cannot be convened in time for the Liam Miller match.

On RTÉ’s Liveline yesterday, Dave Barry, All-Ireland-winning exfootballer and former Cork City soccer player, said he understood

‘I know it’s a sticky situation’

the position the GAA was in, but that allowing the match to go ahead would be a great gesture.

‘I know it’s a sticky situation for the GAA, they’ve worked very hard to promote their games, but I think this is undoubtedly a different scenario down here in Cork,’ he said.

‘[Liam] was taken in an extremely young time in his life and he is after leaving three kids and a wife behind, and everybody in Cork, everybody in Ireland, wants to get behind this, and it would be an absolutely massive occasion down in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.’

Mr Barry added that this match is not a World Cup or European qualifier, but a charity match for Liam’s

family and that people should remember that. According to a Liveline text poll, 96% of listeners said that the game should be played in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

The stadium re-opened last July after two years and €80million worth of renovations, €30million of which was provided by the Government. The newly redeveloped stadium recently hosted Ed Sheeran for three shows and was earmarked as one of the main stadiums for Ireland’s failed Rugby World Cup bid.

According to the GAA, Congress had previously voted to allow the use of GAA grounds for the World Cup bid, had it succeeded.

Labour leader Brendan Howlin said yesterday that, since Páirc Uí Chaoimh was redeveloped using public money, it should be opened for events like the Liam Miller tribute.

‘When funding is granted for the redevelopment of places like Páirc Uí Chaoimh, it should be expected that communities can use the stadium for events like the Liam Miller charity match. Disappointing the GAA won’t budge on this,’ he tweeted.

Fianna Fáil TD for Cork South Michael McGrath also expressed his disappointment. ‘GAA HQ has missed a golden opportunity by not opening the doors of Páirc Uí Chaoimh for the Liam Miller tribute match in Sept. An event this special should be in the best stadium Cork has to offer. What a wasted opportunity to show the true values of the GAA,’ he wrote.

WITHIN the context of the debate over whether or not the Liam Miller soccer testimonial should be played at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, it is difficult not to have sympathy for the GAA. For what we have here, after all, is a truly democratic organisation which listens not only to the voices of its hierarchy, but also to its grassroots members around the country.

It is an organisation that is extremely conscious of the importance of being bound by its rulebook, and as we witnessed with the Kildare football fiasco, when Croke Park breached those rules by not following the proper process, the result was a huge backlash. And rightly so.

The rules say that an exception cannot be made for the Liam Miller match because such a decision would have to be approved by the February meeting of Congress. Obviously, therefore, with regard to the calendar restrictions and the fact the soccer testimonial is scheduled for September, the GAA finds that its hands are tied.

Everyone accepts the bona fides of this testimonial match, planned to aid Liam Miller’s family and to honour the late Manchester United player who died so tragically young. Everyone also recognises that when, in the past, the GAA was asked to be flexible in relation to accommodating sports such as soccer and rugby in its grounds, it was not found wanting.

There is no way, indeed, that it could be regarded as having been in any way obdurate in this regard.

Nevertheless, virtually everyone agrees that the best outcome is for this testimonial to be played in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Nor should we forget that €30million of taxpayers’ money went into the redevelopment of that GAA ground – surely, therefore, meaning that it should, on occasion, be available to a wider sporting public.

It is incumbent upon the GAA to find a positive solution to this problem. Whether that is by means of uncovering some arcane loophole, by calling an extraordinary meeting of Congress, or by simply taking the decision to breach the rules in a way that guarantees no backlash, one way or another Páirc Uí Chaoimh should be made available for the September testimonial.

It is in everyone’s interests to make this happen.