“It’s a dirty old game” – Four under-21 hurling stars discuss gambling in the GAA

The future stars of the GAA are calling for action on the biggest talking points in the sport.

Davy Glennon's harrowing account of his gambling addiction earlier this month was unforgettable for anyone who brought themselves to explore his despair at betting his life away. The Galway man is thankfully on the road to recovery, but the issue of GAA players betting against their own sides is very much the dark underbelly of the association. Just last week a county player admitted that he had bet against his own side in this year's National League with the GAA looking to crack down on the markets for underage games by bookmakers. It's clearly an issue that the young stars of the future are concerned about as we asked four of the country's top hurlers for their thoughts at Tuesday's launch of the 2016 Bord Gáis Energy GAA hurling U21 All-Ireland Championship at Kilmacud Crokes GAA club. We spoke to Clare's Bobby Duggan, Galway's Conor Whelan, Tipperary's Ronan Maher, Cian Lynch of Limerick, and Dublin senior hurling boss Ger Cunningham. We asked all of them one simple question:

Is gambling a problem in the GAA?

Bobby Duggan:

"You know about it, but in terms of betting on your own games, I don't think there is a place for it. You're thinking about that in the back of your mind and I don't think it's a good idea and I know other lads in other counties have done it and I've heard stories, but there isn't a massive issue in Clare I don't think. "I think there is an option for the GAA to have an input and I think maybe there is something local bookies can do, or helping get to know about players."

Conor Whelan:

"I think gambling is a serious problem in GAA at the moment. The area of online gambling can lead to your downfall and you can access things at the flick of a button. I think that's an area that has to be looked at you know. "Davy (Glennon) has shown tremendous bottle to share his story and hopefully, it saves a few lives. He showed incredible character to come back from it. "It was tough, but we were so focused last year we had to try and do it for Davy, but go forward as team."

Cian Lynch:

"It is in some places. I don't many know that have been involved, but seeing Davy Glennon's piece, it would make you think that it is a big issue. You can turn to alcohol or drugs, there are issues in every walk of life, but there is help there if you need it. "It's hard to know, there's people making a living off gambling sometimes, and fair play to them if they are, it's a dirty old game, there's a lot of match-fixing going on in soccer, and it's sad to see players getting involved in it. "Players need to go out and hurl away and not get invovled in gambling but it does happen and that piece from Davy showed how how it can ruin people "I have no interest in gambling. I never had the urge to go into a gambling shop to put down money because if you win you win, but if you lose, well it's gone."

Ronan Maher

"I don't see it as an issue, I don’t think it's an issue, not that I know of. Certainly the GPA would give a few talks on it. It's something you keep away from in a hurling context and we just go out and enjoy ourselves on the field. I didn't read Davy's piece but heard it was very good."

Ger Cunningham

"I have heard different people talking about it, I haven't seen it. It's very hard to see it, or the effects of it. I haven't come across it in any shape for form. A lot of it now is online betting and that's the danger because it's something you can do behind closed doors. "No, I've never met any players, or no-one has come to me to discuss it that it was an issue. "The extent of Davy's habit was shocking, and fair play to him for confronting the problems he had and he's getting a lot of support from people in Galway and his fellow players and the GAA people in general. The impact of it was fairly frightening."