All-Ireland SFC semi-final: Feargal Logan says deferral of Kerry game for a further week could see Tyrone fielding
- Published
'We deeply regret where we are' - Tyrone joint-manager Feargal Logan
Feargal Logan says deferring the All-Ireland Football semi-final against Kerry for a further week could enable Tyrone to fulfil the fixture.
Earlier, Tyrone GAA said they would be unable to field in next Saturday's fixture because of their Covid cases.
Team joint-manager Logan told BBC Sport NI that there had been over 20 cases with the squad and wider staff.
"We hope Croke Park might see fit in all the fairness of the situation," said the Tyrone joint-manager.
Logan, who himself missed the Ulster Final win over Monaghan two weeks ago because of a Covid issue, revealed that one Tyrone player has been hospitalised in recent week following the outbreak in the squad although the squad member is now recovering.
"Certainly the weekend after next which was our initial request is a weekend which we anticipate that we could field," added Logan.
"Every day is another day on the road to return to play for elite athletes."
On Monday, the GAA announced that it had decided to defer the game from its original date of this Sunday until 21 August but Tyrone revealed later that day that they had asked for a two-week deferment.
"In an ideal world, we would love to have a period of a month to get everybody right but we're trying to balance that with Kerry with the GAA at large and with everything that's going on and the season must go on and continue," added Logan.
"We're not walking away from anything. We would love to play Kerry in a meaningful All-Ireland semi-final at some stage here but we're just stuck with the numbers and the return to play and the safe returns to play protocols that prevail."
Logan revealed that Tyrone made Saturday's announcement that they would be unable to field next weekend after consulting with a Dublin-based microbiologist.
"Ultimately he studied our data and prepared a report for us yesterday. We have now received a report which confirmed our worst fears and we now have to deal with that.
"We have 17, 18…beyond 20 [cases] with the whole group which is significantly challenging, significantly difficult. It's just invaded our situation.
"Every player on our panel, his welfare is paramount to us."
Dilemma for GAA
As it stands, Kerry will receive a bye to the final against either Dublin or Mayo.
The county said it took its decision on Saturday "with the greatest reluctance, and with deep regret".
The Red Hands' move throws the 2021 series into disarray and leaves the GAA with an unprecedented dilemma over its premier gaelic football competition.
Association chiefs now face a major decision over whether to offer the Ulster champions a further postponement.
Tyrone chairman Michael Kerr said concerns over player welfare are at the forefront of their handling of the situation, which left them with no option but to withdraw from the tie.
"This morning, the Tyrone GAA Management Committee has decided that it is not in a position to field its senior football team in the rescheduled All-Ireland football championship semi-final in Croke Park, on next Saturday," the county added in a statement on Saturday.
"Having received expert medical opinion on the existing, and future health and welfare of the players who contracted the Covid-19 virus during the period of this last two weeks, and following consultation with the team's management, this decision has been made with the greatest reluctance, and with deep regret.
"It is acknowledged that the decision taken will cause major disappointment and significant inconvenience for the Association, in general, the GAA fraternity of Kerry, and especially for Tyrone's patrons and supporters, but the welfare and safety of players has been the over-riding factor in all considerations of this difficult situation."
It is understood that some Tyrone players would still be unable to feature in the tie, even if it was put back for a further week, but that a large percentage of the squad would definitely be unavailable to play next weekend.
Tyrone have already been in such a position, and were without a number of players for the Ulster final two weeks ago because of Covid issues.
But they decided to go ahead with the Croke Park decider against Monaghan as they were still able to field an almost full-strength team.
'I don't see this as brinkmanship' - McGinley
Former Tyrone All-Ireland winner Enda McGinley said he did not interpret his county's statement as a tactical act of brinkmanship to attempt to force Croke Park to agree to a further week's delay.
"I was looking for evidence of that, some type of indication that if they had added time that the situation could be different, but they didn't indicate any of that which I think if they were playing brinkmanship that would have been there," the current Antrim manager told BBC Sport Northern Ireland.
"None of us on the outside really truly know but it looked like from the statement for me that the advice that they got must have been 'no matter with the addition of a week, there's no guarantee these lads will be playable. There's no guarantee that other lads won't be down'.
"Certainly working in a hospital up here myself, the numbers are high. The numbers in the community are high so there's no guarantee that people who don't have Covid this week won't have Covid next week."
McGinley added that the Tyrone county board and management "deserve lot of credit for standing up very, very strongly for their players and protecting them possibly from themselves".
"Knowing several of the characters within that squad, if they were the boys affected they would, whatever it takes, would try to put themselves on that pitch but that's not the right thing for them.
"That must have been part of the thought process which shows a high degree of integrity."