This afternoon's news that Tyrone have pulled out of their All-Ireland semi-final has received a mixed reaction.
Some believe Kerry should now be given a bye to the All-Ireland final, others feel the game should be pushed back for a week to allow Tyrone to have more recovery time, with some even saying Monaghan should be allowed to play in the game instead.
It is certainly a messy situation, one which the GAA will have to resolve very quickly.
Speaking on RTÉ ahead of this evening's other semi-final, Tomás Ó Sé said that he was conflicted as to whether the game should be pushed back for another week. He also raised the question as to how this has become so bad within the Tyrone camp, with other teams managing to deal with similar circumstances much better in recent times.
The GAA need to nail it on the head soon in relation to the rescheduling of Tyrone-Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final, says @tomas5ky #rtegaa pic.twitter.com/lywQrXWISw
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) August 14, 2021
Part of me says for the competition let's wait and play, to have two good semi-finals and not have an absolute disaster for Kerry in waiting so long for a game.
Another part of me is saying leave them off, with what happened to Sligo last year and the knock-on effects for clubs, there was also no backdoor for teams this year which is very tough.
Are they calling the GAA's bluff here? They just said it straight away, put it out there and let the GAA answer back. Were they vaccinated?
All this stuff comes in and there was frustration on both sides, obviously no more so than in Tyrone.
It's very simple, the GAA now have to decide are we giving them an extra week? Will an extra week even be enough? We don't know.
With all this covid protocol, we don't know how many are infected, how many players are down. How they went down is a big question for me as well...
If the (covid) numbers keep going up the way they are, the Government could actually say 'we did say we would have 40,000 for the All-Ireland final, but now we're going to bring that down'. I do think it would dilute the championship completely if Tyrone don't play.
There would be a lot of me that is angry in why this is here. Tyrone landed into the Ulster final and they had this situation, how was that not boxed off? Mayo have had a similar situation, a lot of teams have had a similar situation, but they boxed it off and nailed it.
It would frustrate me on that side, but there is another side of me that would hate to see three teams competing for the last four positions.
I think for the good of the competition it should be played, but can Tyrone play in the next two weeks? I'm not sure.
There is going to be things on both sides. You have to ask how it happened, I do think that's a genuine question to ask.
Colm O'Rourke was of the opinion that Tyrone should be given another week to field a team, while Cora Staunton insisted that clarity was needed from the GAA as soon as possible.
It will be interesting to see what route they go down.
SEE ALSO: The GAA Need To See Sense And Push Kerry-Tyrone Back By Another Week
