“It is wrong and it goes against the values of the Gaelic Athletic Association.”
This venue saga between Kerry and Cork has took another turn, as The Rebels have declared that they will not play this game anywhere outside of Páirc Uí Rinn.
The Munster championship tie that is set to be played on Saturday, May 7, was originally fixed for Páirc Uí Rinn because Páirc Uí Chaoimh is unavailable due to an Ed Sheeran concert taking place there.
The issue with this however, is that Páirc Uí Rinn can accommodate 9,200, which is well below the 22,000 that the provincial body say must be catered for based on previous Munster championship fixtures.
The Munster Council then agreed to move the game to Killarney meaning that Cork have now lost home advantage in what was always going to be a difficult game.
In terms of what’s happening on the pitch, both teams are at different ends of the spectrum, with Cork struggling in Division Two and Kerry flying in Division One, securing their place in the league final this Sunday.
This means that The Kingdom are going into the game as strong favourites already, so with home advantage thrown in as well, it doesn’t look good for those in red and white.
However, they don’t seem to be backing down, and in their latest statement, they have announced that they have no intentions of playing in Killarney.
“We feel this reasoning sets a bad precedent, it is wrong and it goes against the values of the Gaelic Athletic Association,” the players and management added in their statement, issued to the42.ie
“As such, we are preparing for the Munster Football Semi-Final on 7 May 2022 to be played in Páirc Uí Rinn. We will not be playing the match in any other venue.”
