The GAA will seek to introduce an inter-county certification programme and plans to redraft its amateur status rule at next year's Annual Congress.
A report on the current and future amateur status of the GAA has been prepared by the Amateur Status Review Committee and presents two motions for the forthcoming Congress – to introduce a regulatory framework to promote best practice for amateur status and also to redraft Rule 1.8 of the Official Guide, which is deemed no longer fit for purpose and requires updating.
"At its most basic, the problem for the GAA has always been the absence of a regulatory framework with which to ensure compliance with its proposed solutions and indeed best practice generally in the many areas highlighted here and, it should be said, in many other areas of its practice too," the report states.
"It is therefore the view of the Amateur Status Review Committee that the GAA should address this obvious shortcoming and introduce a regulatory framework to promote best practice in this regard, which assists county committees to meet minimum criteria annually in order to compete in GAA competitions."
The new framework would see the introduction of an inter-county certification programme.
The report explains that costs associated with preparing inter-county teams have risen by over 100% in the last decade, and time demands on players and volunteers are at unsustainable levels.
"However, the introduction of a regulatory framework which sets out minimum criteria for county committees to meet before being certified to compete in GAA competitions can assist significantly in - preserving the association’s core purpose and ethos and ensuring the sustainability of the association by improving player welfare, coaching, games development and financial management standards."
This program will seek to reducing the time and burden currently placed upon all stakeholders to deliver the GAA’s inter-county games programme annually, especially those experienced by players and volunteer officers.
It is envisioned that this may consequently render these roles more attractive to prospective officers.
Strengthening the governance structures around inter-county team administration is also encompassed.
The report states that the certification program is a model that has been shown to work very effectively in other sports in response to the internal demand for better regulation in areas such as player welfare and financial governance and cites UEFA’s hugely successful Club Licensing as a model which has transformed club administration across European soccer in the last decade and beyond.
"The proposed inter-county certification programme could be largely modelled on what has worked exceptionally well for UEFA but, of course, tailored and simplified for the GAA’s most pressing needs and adapted for its volunteer-driven structure," it adds.
There would be two phases involved.
Pre-season criteria would have to meet certain basic requirements before the commencement of the season.
The proposal suggests that senior managers in place would have completed the GAA inter-county manager induction course for that season, the appointed backroom team would have qualifications appropriate to their role and the county would be compliant with player welfare initiatives, such as the provision of GPS or injury data to a centralised repository.
Financial governance issues would be prepared in accordance with current accounting standards, and the county would have adhered to agreed annual maximum expenditure limits the previous year.
In extreme cases a county may not be certified to participate in that season’s league or championship until the agreed terms of engagement were addressed.
Phase two would ensure that compliance would be met during the competitive season in various essential areas, such as return to training criteria, closed season stipulations, payments to backroom personnel remaining consistent with amateur status rules and adherence to anti-doping requirements and agreed levels on backroom team numbers.
Breaches of the minimum requirements during the season could carry sanctions on a suggested "penalty point model" basis, that would accumulate towards a maximum limit.
If exceeded, that could ultimately lead to the withdrawal of certification to participate in the league or championship in any given year.
The second proposal to redraft Rule 1.8 of the Official Guide offers more modern and updated criteria surrounding the amateur status rule.
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