GAA official urges media to exclude championship odds from previews

MICK Rock, the president of the Connaught GAA Council, has urged sports writers to exclude championship betting odds when previewing games in 2017.

His call came at the launch of the 2017 Connaught football championship at the Centre of Excellence in Bekan, where players and managers of the competing counties in the province were interviewed ahead of the opening game on home soil when Mayo take on Sligo in Castlebar next Sunday, May 21.

He elaborated: “This is more of a personal appeal to those who report and preview our games. If you could consider desisting from what is now the common practice of including in previews the match betting odds.

“There is a whole sub group whose only connection with GAA is the betting opportunities these games present.

“I'm not naive enough to think they won't get those odds somewhere else but including them as part of the stats of a game mainstreams it and puts it out there as an essential part of the GAA package.

“There are so many other interesting things that can be said rather than giving free space to the bookmaking firms who really don't need it,” he said.

Mr. Rock said the GAA had tried to regularise drinking alcohol from cups presented to winning teams and now realises the concept of betting is threatening to become an essential part of the GAA package, and his suggesion might be a significant step in the right direction given the dangers that gambling presents.

He also urged the retention of the existing provincial championships which he said the GAA owed to the Diaspora, particularly in London and New York, where the game continues to flourish and whose teams still form an important part of the Connaught series.