Armagh joint-captain Aidan Nugent has hit out at the GAA over a delay in expenses during a “cost of living crisis”.
Armagh – who are currently competing in Division One of the National League – began training back in November and to date no expenses has been paid to any player.
In fact, the six counties of Armagh, Down, Tyrone, Derry, Fermanagh and Antrim are all in the same boat.
The opening of the GAA’s web expenses system was delayed until January 31 and this was further compounded for Armagh as the system was not operational for counties outside the Eurozone, with changes needed to move all currency over to sterling.
And it’s simply not good enough according to Nugent.
“Inter County training officially allowed back on 24th November and players haven’t received one penny of expenses up to this point,” the Cullyhanna man wrote on Twitter.
“Players (especially student athletes with no other income) are out a lot of money in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
“There’s not enough being said about it. Players generate massive amounts of money each year for the GAA, the least were owed is the expenses that we get promised, paid on time.”
Armagh teammate, and former captain, Aidan Forker said: “If we threatened not to bother playing at the weekend they’d soon scramble to get the system up and going instead of citing ‘technical updates with WebExpense system’. [The GPA – Gaelic Players’ Association] need to be stronger on getting this sorted. Significant financial issues for students especially!”
The GPA informed members on Monday that they have reached out to GAA officials in Croke Park over the issue.
“The GPA will continue to push centrally with Croke Park to ensure all squads are up and running asap as it is not acceptable for players still to be out of pocket for expenses at this stage,” the group said.
