GAA Response to Coronavirus

[armaghniac]

Pete McGrath basically saying write the year off and work towards getting everything possible in place for next year. . . if the Olympics are doing it on the scale they have then why should a vastly smaller organisation be taking a bigger risk?

I'd love football and hurling to be back but there's a fair chance that the infection will spread again if we do. It's tough but probably the best option!

The Olympics today are saying that next year might not be possible either and that they would just have to cancel.

[larryin89]

I'm still baffled why the hard questions aren't asked , if a journalist just asked a couple of yes/no questions it would stop all the speculation.

Do you need a vaccine or cure to end social distancing rule ? Yes or no

[Rossfan]

Yes.

[larryin89]

Yes.

So there's a possibility we might not see our amateur sport for a long time to come . Strange times .

[supersub]

Pete McGrath basically saying write the year off and work towards getting everything possible in place for next year. . . if the Olympics are doing it on the scale they have then why should a vastly smaller organisation be taking a bigger risk?

I'd love football and hurling to be back but there's a fair chance that the infection will spread again if we do. It's tough but probably the best option!

The Olympics today are saying that next year might not be possible either and that they would just have to cancel.

The Olympics involves 1000s of Athletes and 100,000s spectators travelling from all over the world.

The GAA is confined largely within one country. Different animal.

[lenny]

I'm still baffled why the hard questions aren't asked , if a journalist just asked a couple of yes/no questions it would stop all the speculation.

Do you need a vaccine or cure to end social distancing rule ? Yes or no

The answer to that question is yes.

[rodney trotter]

Pete McGrath basically saying write the year off and work towards getting everything possible in place for next year. . . if the Olympics are doing it on the scale they have then why should a vastly smaller organisation be taking a bigger risk?

I'd love football and hurling to be back but there's a fair chance that the infection will spread again if we do. It's tough but probably the best option!

The Olympics today are saying that next year might not be possible either and that they would just have to cancel.

The Olympics involves 1000s of Athletes and 100,000s spectators travelling from all over the world.

The GAA is confined largely within one country. Different animal.

Gaa is only Amatuer. Professional Leagues like the Dutch and French have cancelled their season, with more likely to follow like Seria A.

I saw a guideline for how they plan to play Bundesliga behind closeds doors, and it wouldn't be possible in GAA.

[five points]

I'm still baffled why the hard questions aren't asked , if a journalist just asked a couple of yes/no questions it would stop all the speculation.

Do you need a vaccine or cure to end social distancing rule ? Yes or no

The answer to that question is yes.

The 1957/58 pandemic was contained by the release of a vaccine in mid to late 1957 but the virus circulated nonetheless for another 11 years and generated another less serious pandemic in 1968.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1957%E2%80%9358_influenza_pandemic
https://www.britannica.com/event/Asian-flu-of-1957

It would be lunacy to persist with social distancing for 11 years.

[imtommygunn]

Pete McGrath basically saying write the year off and work towards getting everything possible in place for next year. . . if the Olympics are doing it on the scale they have then why should a vastly smaller organisation be taking a bigger risk?

I'd love football and hurling to be back but there's a fair chance that the infection will spread again if we do. It's tough but probably the best option!

The Olympics today are saying that next year might not be possible either and that they would just have to cancel.

The Olympics involves 1000s of Athletes and 100,000s spectators travelling from all over the world.

The GAA is confined largely within one country. Different animal.

I am not sure in this context it is that different. Thousands of players and hundreds of thousands of spectators for an entire year. Yes they are from one country but that won't matter if social distancing rules are applied.

[seafoid]

Would many people even go to matches now anyway and expose themselves to the risk?
We know a lot more about the virus and it isn't pleasant.

[supersub]

Pete McGrath basically saying write the year off and work towards getting everything possible in place for next year. . . if the Olympics are doing it on the scale they have then why should a vastly smaller organisation be taking a bigger risk?

I'd love football and hurling to be back but there's a fair chance that the infection will spread again if we do. It's tough but probably the best option!

The Olympics today are saying that next year might not be possible either and that they would just have to cancel.

The Olympics involves 1000s of Athletes and 100,000s spectators travelling from all over the world.

The GAA is confined largely within one country. Different animal.

I am not sure in this context it is that different. Thousands of players and hundreds of thousands of spectators for an entire year. Yes they are from one country but that won't matter if social distancing rules are applied.

Yes but the Olympics brings all of these people from all parts of the world, all differently affected by the virus, in to one concentrated place, in the main.

Agree social distancing makes anything very hard, but the amount of people descending on the Olympics coming from all parts into one location in my opinion makes it different.

[thewobbler]

Look, the key difference between the Olympics and GAA is that the former engages/affects/inbound travels/accommodates/coordinates tens of thousands of athletes from dozens of otherwise unrelated sporting organisations.

Comparing the Olympics  to the GAA is like comparing the GAA to a charity 5-a-side bank holiday tournament on one pitch.


This doesn't mean that Gaelic Games won't be cancelled en masse for 2020 (and/or 2021). But the small and very manageable number of stakeholders and decision makers does mean the GAA can actually change their direction in a heartbeat. The Olympics cannot.

[imtommygunn]

I understand the differences. They're both f**ked is my point. For the foreseeable future it doesn't matter if you are coming from half a mile up the road or 10,000 miles across the ocean.

[Zulu]

I understand the differences. They're both f**ked is my point. For the foreseeable future it doesn't matter if you are coming from half a mile up the road or 10,000 miles across the ocean.

Yes it does. You could be bringing the virus in from countries far less successful at containing it and/or bringing it back into countries that had it well contained after the Olympics. The Olympics carries a risk of spreading the virus worldwide again, the championship does not.

If the championship is not possible in some capacity, limit crowd size, not allow over 65's (or some age restriction) or people with underlining conditions (that would be self-regulated), use only certain grounds, like Thurles, Clones, Croke Park etc. where people could only sit in designated seats etc. by 2021 then what can we allow back? How are schools and universities any less risky? What about businesses? Governments can't afford to pay hundreds of thousands of people to not work indefinitely.

I think we'll be back playing sport before the end of this year just not with the same structure as previously.

[rodney trotter]

What about players who have underlining conditions like asthma or diabetes? Players like Jack McCaffrey work in medical so how could he go from that to playing GAA.? Does he put himself in a hotel for 2 weeks to isolate?
What about players who might live with parents who are are elderly

Far more risks in a Amatuer Sport