The GAA and RTE both face a potential headache when it comes to the All-Ireland hurling semi-final replay.
Galway and Clare could not be separated after extra time in a pulsating afternoon in Croke Park which ended on a scoreline of 1-30 apiece.
The replay will take place at Semple Stadium, Thurles on Sunday, August 5, with the throw-in time set for 2pm.
The problem is that next Sunday also marks the final round of the Super 8 series, the football championships newly formed round-robin system.
Donegal take on Tyrone in what will be a straight shootout for a place in the semi-finals, whilst Dublin host Roscommon on the same day. The two matches are to be televised on RTE1 and RTE2 respectively.
Both games throw in at 3.30pm which means, as it stands there is no way RTE can televise the hurling. Only Sky Sports would be able to. Now, imagine the consternation if an All-Ireland hurling semi-final weren’t to be shown by the country’s national broadcaster. The hurling purists would be out for blood.
Of course, the likelihood is that the GAA will push back the football. A 4pm throw-in may potentially fix the problem. However, if yesterday’s titanic battle is anything to go by, extra-time could well be on the cards down in Thurles.
If the two football games where to be put back until 5pm this would rule out any chance of the games crossing over, but then you are left with a sizeable gap in between that would need to be filled.
Another method is to scrap plans to televise Dublin v Roscommon in Croke Park as the game is effectively a dead rubber match. The Dubs have already topped the group, whilst Roscommon have been eliminated from the series. This, however, would not go down well with fans of either county.
The last thing RTE want is to have to make a decision if the hurling goes to extra time again.
Sky Sports faced this issue head on earlier in the season when Tyrone’s qualifier tie with Meath was forced into extra-time, which resulted in hurling fans missing the opening 20 minutes of Kilkenny’s clash with Wexford in the Leinster hurling championships.
We await word on what will happen…
