The fixtures coordinator for Club Players Association, Derek Kavanagh, is not optimistic of sorting out scheduling issues ahead of their meeting with the GAA next week.
He joined Off the Ball on Saturday and speaking to Nathan Murphy, he said: "We are meeting with the CCCC (Central Competitions Control Committee) on Tuesday - an outcome from Special Congress last week was given the direction that we would engage with them so we got organising a meeting.
"Now we had hoped that would consist of a series of meetings that we would get active involvement in kind of deciding how the fixture list would be mapped out next year but unfortunately we kind of got an answer back from Feargal McGill and his team who is chairing the CCCC, is that it will only be a one-off meeting which we're very disappointed with really because we've put a lot of time into mapping out the potential alternatives for fixtures next year but I think, and maybe I'm being negative here, but I think it's just a kind of 'tick the box' exercise from the GAA and Croke Park really just to be seen to be engaging with us and keeping us happy.
"We had hoped that we would set up a forum or kind of an on-going process to work with the CCCC and represent the players in a better way but unfortunately it's a one-off meeting so I'm not holding out much hope that it's going to be anything positive (that) comes out of Tuesday.
"We actually have a response from Feargal McGill here and I quote it, it says: 'It's important you (you being the Club Players Association) understand that this is indeed a one-off meeting to present your ideas' and he goes on further to say: 'It's not part of some on-going process or forum with the CCCC' so we're getting off to the wrong footing straight away and I think it's condescending towards the Club Players Association and it's very much condescending towards the club player," he added.
Asked if he expects an over-arching solution to the fixture problem within the GAA anytime soon, Kavanagh said: "It's pure optics when you look at it. We're all big enough and bold enough here and around the GAA long enough to know that they're kind of playing silly-buggers here.
"It's kind of, look, they can come out and say they're engaged with the Club Players Association and of course they can because it's an official meeting and everyone will know about it on Tuesday but what can we get done in an hour or two or three?
"If that meeting goes on for eight hours - what the hell can we get out of it if it's only a one-off? So, it's disappointing but it's not going to deflate us. We're still very much energised by our executive leadership and we're still much energised by the feedback we're getting from clubs and players on the ground so we're going to be working hard and lobbying hard on behalf of the club players."
The Saturday Panel Podcast is available here:
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
