The GAA is making no immediate statement in reaction to endorsement deals between two Cork players and a drinks company. Photographs were produced yesterday showing the county's starting forwards Niall McCarthy and Kieran Murphy were both wearing logos on their boots, advertising a beer. Technically the players could be facing a six-month suspension.
"We're getting clarification on this," according to GAA commercial and marketing manager Dermot Power. "At the moment we don't have the full details. It's fairly certain that it's against the rules and we'll make a decision in the next couple of days but it looks like another cheap ambush job."
This has echoes of the controversy two year ago when a firm of bookmakers paid four players in the All-Ireland semi-final between Cork and Wexford to carry the company's name and logo on their hurls.
The players involved in that episode, including current Cork captain Seán Ó hAilpín, escaped any suspension because of an ambiguity in the relevant rules. Under the provisions of the official guide individual players are prohibited from accepting money to advertise on their playing gear.
It is possible the importers of Corona beer may believe that they have been exploiting a loophole in the GAA's Official Guide. During the controversy of two years ago, an anomaly was evident in that the rules on sponsorship didn't specifically mention hurls or boots.
Rule 14 in the GAA's Official Guide states: "The following regulations shall apply to playing gear, specifically jerseys, shorts, stockings, tracksuits and kit-bags worn/used for games, training, interviews and photographs . . . "(f) Acceptance of payment or other material reward by an individual is strictly prohibited. Penalty: Any unit, which breaches the rule shall be liable to disqualification and or loss of expenses and an individual(s) to a suspension of not less than six months or to expulsion."
At the time GAA president Seán Kelly reacted angrily to the advertising on hurls and made a specific distinction between boot deals with manufacturers such as Adidas and Puma and the selling of advertising space on gear.
"There are a couple of things I want to emphasise," said Kelly, "and the first is that the main culprits in this matter are the company that has behaved in an unprofessional manner engaging in ambush marketing for cheap publicity for themselves and showing scant regard for the other companies with official sponsorship links to the game."
More importantly he took action.
"The Official Guide needs updating," says Power, "but the president responded at the time by making a presidential ruling, which was shortly afterwards endorsed by Central Council. That tied up the anomaly and also spelled out that endorsements should not be in conflict with national or county sponsorships.
"We have no problem with endorsements," continued Power, "but there hasn't been a case of direct conflict with a county or national sponsorship."
The All-Ireland hurling championships are sponsored by Guinness. According to Power the field of legitimate endorsements is expanding. "The market is beginning to grow a little bit. The amount of television and 48-sheet advertising is definite evidence of that. All three of the brand leaders in the sports drinks market are using GAA players.
"Look at the number of rugby and soccer players featuring in national campaigns. Gaelic games are bigger so there are more players involved but the shape of the season doesn't suit campaigns the way, say, a world cup does. A five- or six-week campaign can be built around that with a lead-up period as well as the tournament. County teams can't be sure of reaching the All-Ireland finals and that's a drawback for the players."
