GAA president Larry McCarthy says that any loss of the spotlight from moving the All-Ireland finals to July is "worth it" in terms of the benefit to club players.
The association will follow the 'split-season' model first adopted in 2020 from next year, with the inter-county season running from January to July, and the remainder of the year being reserved for club competitions.
That will bring order to a traditionally haphazard schedule but some have questioned the wisdom of leaving what was once the prime championship window of August/September clear for other sports.
"My own view is that it’s important to give the club its window," he told RTÉ Sport at the PwC All-Stars.
"From the end of July, the clubs will have their window right through the rest of the year.
"You can make the argument that we might be giving up August and September, to a certain extent, but in my view it’s well worth it because 98% of the members will get their opportunity to play.
"The 2% (inter-county players) are very important in terms of marketing and presentation of the games but I think it’s worth it."
McCarthy added that the decision would not impact GAA revenue.
"The GAA won’t lose money. It has been a very tough time and we have been very prudent in terms of our expenditure over the last two years.
"But assuming we got our crowds back, and there’s no Omicron or Covid for 2022, we’ll be in good shape financially."
GPA chief executive Tom Parsons says that county players are firmly in favour of the move.
"It’s really welcomed by players," he said.
"We have always talked about this for player welfare. Getting that six or seven-week block where you can have down-time will improve the game. Because if you have that down-time, you’ll have that itch to get back and play with your county.
"A condensed season has other challenges, where you have games coming thick and fast but players love games.
"And when you condense the season, it forces your hand to use different squad members. It’s going to be exciting."
