The GPA and the GAA won’t be too pleased to hear this.
Donegal’s win over Dublin in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final was one of the biggest shocks of all time in the GAA championship, and came in the face of frankly ridiculous odds.
Dublin were raging favourites for the game and were priced at odds of 1/9 for the match by some bookies, while Donegal were at odds ranging from 7/1 to 10/1.
Of course Dublin’s All-Ireland ambitions came crashing down in the 3-14 to 0-17 loss, with the Ulster side blowing away Jim Gavin’s team in Croke Park.
And it seems that the Donegal players availed of those hefty odds to make a very tidy profit for themselves which is not breaking any laws but is certainly frowned upon.
Jim McGuinness’ new book, ‘Until Victory Always – A Memoir‘ is being launched next week in Glenties, and in an extract published in today’s Irish Examiner, the All-Ireland winning manager admits his side were so confident of victory that they lumped on beating Dublin last year.
“When we played St Eunan’s in 2005, our boys had us backed.
“Now, our boys had us backed to beat Dublin. We were available at 10/1. They had a few hundred euro on themselves. And we knew leaving the hotel that we were going to win.”
We’re no maths whizzes but we figure that the sums involved were probably more than just your typical fiver or tenner, so the Donegal players are likely to have earned a decent sum for their confidence.
However the GAA are unlikely to be too pleased about the revelation having launched guidelines to combat gambling in the association by players and mentors earlier last year in association with the GPA.
The GPA have also come on board with an EU wide initiative to try and stop sportspoeople from betting
We are supporting #PROtectIntegrity, find out more at https://t.co/RIBqnM5NgU! #Players pic.twitter.com/bUwMPISeUq
— GPA (@gaelicplayers) October 22, 2015
We are supporting #PROtectIntegrity, find out more at https://t.co/RIBqnM5NgU! #Players pic.twitter.com/yFKxl2wa2b
— GPA (@gaelicplayers) October 20, 2015
The revelation is likely to not go down well with many in Donegal.
In Jim's book he say donegal player "bet hundreds" on themselves 2 beat Dublin what implications (if any) will this bring from HQ
— Donegal GAA Results (@donegalGAAres) October 23, 2015
