Donegal have confirmed that a motion aimed at preventing Croke Park being designated as a neutral venue for the Super 8s will be tabled at GAA Congress next month.
It could mean that five-in-a-row-chasing Dublin – should they win their ninth provincial title in a row or qualify through the back door – would not be allowed to play two of their three round-robin games at their de facto home ground, Croke Park, as they did last year.
Last season Donegal’s ‘neutral’ Super 8s game was in GAA HQ against Dublin, who later hosted Roscommon at the same venue in their official ‘home’ game.
Essentially that arrangement meant that seven of the eight teams had to play two of their three games on the road, while Jim Gavin’s side travelled outside the county only once, the trip to Omagh to play Tyrone.
The motion passed by Donegal’s convention in December read: "Counties who qualify for the Football Inter County Quarter Final Group Stage shall not be permitted to nominate Croke Park as their Home Venue."
Last July Donegal manager Declan Bonner said: "For all eight teams, I think it's got to be the one playing field, and I don't think it's that level if you have to play two matches away from home and another team has two home games.
"In terms of fairness, if Donegal were to play Dublin and someone said the game was to be played at a neutral venue, then you would expect somewhere like Cavan or Clones, or a neutral venue.
"Not going into Dublin's back yard to play what is a so-called neutral match."
Dublin open their Leinster campaign against either Wexford or Louth on 25 May.
