Antrim hurling boss Davy Fitzgerald says it’s time for the GAA to have an “open debate” on whether inter-county managers should receive formal payments.
His comments come after a GPA survey found that 75 per cent of players believe managers should be paid beyond standard expenses.
“It needs to be looked at and discussed,” said Fitzgerald. “Let’s just look at it realistically and see what the story is. Let’s see what can be done, what cannot be done.”
The Clare man, said the workload involved at inter-county level is “pretty crazy.”
“I know the hours [put in by managers] are massive. I can only speak from what I’m doing right now. I know hours-wise what it is,” he said.
Fitzgerald added that the GAA’s growing financial strength makes it a good time to have the conversation.
“Is the GAA generating more [money] than it’s ever generated? Probably. It goes hand-in-hand, doesn’t it? Just look at the overall picture of how that works.”
While insisting it’s “not the number one issue” facing the association, Fitzgerald said the GAA should follow the example of other sports and review how management roles are structured and supported.
