Expenses issue could be costly distraction

A rest weekend in the Allianz Football weekend and all went quiet on the Gaelic football front.

Well, not entirely quiet. An expenses row flared up in Armagh to keep the controversy mill churning.

Expenses have often been a thorny subject in the GAA and the process has never run smoothly at the best of times.

But it was disappointing to learn that players had gone four months without receiving so much as a penny in reimbursement.

Aidan Nugent was very forthright on Twitter on Monday afternoon, pointing out that he and his teammates hadn't received anything since returning to training in November. We saw Aidan Forker row in behind him in the thread below.

He rightly pointed out that it was an especially pressing matter in the context of a cost of living crisis.

Tom Parsons - head of the GPA - did step forward and explain that there were some gremlins in the expenses portal on the web, particularly for players who need to be paid in sterling.

It was a relief to learn on Wednesday that the issue had been cleared up, with the Irish News reporting that the system had been altered to facilitate sterling payments.

I know Aidan had even tossed out the notion of players striking. I'm sure it won't get to that. But the GAA make enough money from players so I'd imagine if they went off doing their own thing on Sundays, the delays in paying out expenses would be sorted fairly quickly.

From travelling to training, to taking time off work, maybe dealing with injuries, there's the nutrition element, the S&C side, there's a lot of forces pressing down on players and they can't end up out of pocket. Some guys could have mortgages, others could be facing college bills.

We've all gone through our own issues with expenses down the years. It was