Down veteran McKernan warns GAA of threats expenses row brings

Down footballer Kevin McKernan fears that the current charter between the GAA and GPA could lead to inequality within county panels and warns that disgruntlement could set in for players not included in the 32-man squad.

The GAA provides a subvention for counties for up to 32 players on a panel.

Many counties are carrying numbers in excess of that and have been for some time.

The GAA have told counties that panels do not have to be restricted to 32 players but have decreed that if a county is carrying more than that, it needs to be factored into the overall team budget. Counties themselves will have to pick up the tab without help from Croke Park.

As the impasse between Croke Park and the players group continues, the GAA have stuck with their policy of mileage provision covering up to four sessions per week.

In other words, Croke Park will provide a subvention for these sessions and for up to 32 players participating in those sessions at 65c per mile.

County boards will have to cover the costs if a fifth session was called.

This is a scenario that the GPA insists it should not have to police.

McKernan, who joined the Down panel in 2007 and made his championship debut a year later, also says that tensions could start to fester between teams and players within squads, if players outside of the 32 are not protected.

"This is only a personal view after 15 years of playing inter-county, but I feel players in every county need the same protection and that should come through the charter. It should cover the maximum number of players possible," McKernan told RTE Sport.

"A 32-man panel doesn't protect players numbered upwards of 33 to 40 and that’s the biggest thing for me. Obviously for any panel, numbers 33 to 40 are needed, especially