Sligo exited the Championship earlier this month, and many of the team are already in America.
That's not fair on the clubs, according to the county manager Niall Carew, who feels the lure of heading Stateside if affecting players during the Championship. The Irish Examiner have reported that the Kildare native has called on GAA headquarters to make county players ineligible to play in America, in the same year they play for their county.
Writing in The Sligo Champion, Carew proposed an idea that he feels will help solve what is becoming a bigger problem for counties that exit the Championship early.
"When a county panel has named their 32-man squad for their National League campaign, these men should not be eligible for America. At least both parties will know where they stand by the first week in February."
"I don’t think this is unreasonable. You are protecting the clubs first and foremost and then the county teams and it is in that order."
Sligo were knocked out by Clare in Round 3A of the Football Qualifiers by seven points in Markievicz Park, and Carew claims the team's preparations were not helped by players being contacted by American clubs before the game.
“We have five or more students that receive either a text or a call from GAA teams in America two days before we play Clare stating ‘If you lose we will fly you out to say New York or wherever and offer you great expenses, accommodation, work etc.’ So what do you do? You try to put this to the back of your head and concentrate on the game ahead."
Carew's proposal is certainly worth considering, but does risk the chance of the smaller inter-county teams being further weakened by players deciding the skip the Championship altogether in favour of a summer in America.
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