A HOST of Donegal LGFA Ladies Championship matches scheduled for this morning were called off late last night.
Players and managers were left furious when they learned, after 11pm last night, that their games had been postponed.
The games were pencilled in for 10.30am today.
The senior championship meeting of Buncrana and Moville was among six ties to be called off as was Carndonagh’s 250km round-trip to Aodh Ruadh, Ballyshannon.
In a Facebook post, the Donegal LGFA said the postponements were due to ‘technical difficulties’. The Board later clarified that the decision to call off the games was not Covid-19 related.
A spokesperson, when contacted by this website, would only cite ‘unforeseen circumstances’ and confirmed that the games would be played ‘at a later date’.
Donegal Daily/Donegal Sport Hub understands that an issue with the registration system has resulted in the required paperwork not being processed on time.
Clubs had until yesterday, August 1, to get their players registered on the LGFA system.
The troubled registration system has been the cause of ire for clubs across the country in recent years. The system is believed to have ‘crashed’ under the weight of a raft of entries, leaving many unable to be processed.
“This system has been a joke for four years now,” one manager said.
“Clubs have been complaining about this and nothing has been done about it. It is completely chaotic and now we are left in a situation where players have either booked off work or had swapped shifts and now have no game to go to. When new dates are set, girls will have to try to work something out again. It’s a shambles – and it wouldn’t be allowed to happen in the men’s game.”
The games affected are the Senior Championship game between Buncrana and Moville; the Intermediate clash of Aodh Ruadh and Carndonagh; the Robert Emmets v Glenswilly and Dungloe v Downings Junior A; the Junior B meeting of Red Hughs and Burt; as well as the U14 game involving Gaoth Dobhair and Red Hughs.
One player said: “Players deserve better than to get a message at 11 o’clock at night that a game has been called off the following morning and only to be told that technical problems are the reason. It’s so annoying and frustrating for players.”
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