The Gaelic Players Association announced today that ten of the country's top GAA players have been signed up for a new sponsorship deal. At a press conference earlier, eight of the ten players who have been tied to the year-long commercial sponsorship deal with the Marlborough recruitment group worth £50,000, were unveiled by the GPA. These players include the Hurler of the Year, Brian Corcoran of Cork, Offaly's Brian Whelahan and Galway's Ja Fallon. The GPA said the other two players would not be named until after this weekend's hurling and football championship action.
In response to this development, the President of the GAA, Sean McCague, said he is not prepared to comment at this stage and that until he has studied the deal he wouldn't be commenting further. He also said the Association would address any issues that may arise from the announcement through the normal procedures and channels.
However, the GAA's Gaelic players' committee - through their chairman Jarlath Burns - have expressed their disappointment at the news. Burns released a statement this afternoon, in which he said this new development "will obviously deprive the team-mates of those involved of their entitlements as team members." He also went on to say: "It would appear that those who have claimed in the past that the G.P.A. is elitist and only representative of a greedy minority, may very well have been proven right today."
