Dublin manager Jim Gavin was critical of drug testers in the aftermath of his side's eleven point win over Kerry in yesterday's National League Final. Blood and urine tests on inter-county players were introduced for the first time this year, with Chairman of the Medical Scientific and Welfare Committee Ger Ryan saying that:
The GAA has worked closely with Sport Ireland on this and the programme that will be rolled out – while meeting with Sport Ireland’s requirements in this regard - has been designed taking careful consideration of the unique circumstances of our amateur players, their support personnel and our team and training structures.
He added that while he had sympathy for the inconvenience this would cause for players, it was important that the GAA were not complacent regarding the potential of doping in the sport. In his post-game press conference, Gavin said that he was fully in support of anti-doping measures, but he criticised the timing of the tests immediately after the game, given that his players are amateurs:
We all fully support the initiative. We don’t want cheats in our game that’s the first thing to say about it. But I think it could be better managed. You have amateur players immediately after games, it’s not appropriate. They all want to enjoy the success or deal with losing a game and I think the last thing they need is somebody coming down and having an invasive procedure taking place.
There is plenty of time during the week of a game to pop out to us or immediately afterwards. Every team has some recovery protocol on the day after a game so there is plenty of opportunity to get your samples if you need them.
But even today we had four players there – Laochra was taking place outside and they’re in the dungeons of the stadium being closed off and not having access to the entertainment. It did not just sit right with me. They are the athletes that people came to watch today and for them to be treated that way, I don’t think was appropriate.
Gavin's opinion that the blood tests were 'invasive' echo those of his forward Bernard Brogan, who disagreed that blood tests were necessary, saying that "“it’s invasive for a sport that people aren’t getting paid to do. It’s an amateur game. We do it for our parish and for family and friends".
