Connacht GAA secretary John Prenty has accused the GPA of lacking 'consistency' over player welfare concerns.

In his annual report, the Mayo man takes issue with the players’ body for getting rid of the pre-season competitions while advocating the return of the International Rules series at the same time.

"The GPA are not fans of the pre-season competitions and have called for their demise in the past,” he wrote.

"Unfortunately, they have got their way for 2025 when in tandem with Ard Chomhairle they have succeeded in having all pre-season competitions discontinued for one year.

"Their theory is based on the fact that pre-season competitions are having a detrimental effect on player welfare. Maybe when next they conduct a survey with the players, they might find out how many times inter-county teams have trained pre the return-to-train date and particularly how many challenge games have been played in December.

"The irony of the GPA concerns about player welfare has been the recent kite they flew around the return of the International Rules. Consistency is futile.

"With the recent Special Congress decision to approve all of the Football Review Committee motions surely the pre-season competitions had a valuable role to bring everybody, players, managements, referees and supporters up to speed with the new rules in a less competitive environment. It has been an opportunity lost."

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