The Gaelic Players Association (GPA) has voted to ballot all members on possible strike action in the event of failure to reach agreement with the GAA on player welfare standards.
The decision falls some way short of suggestions made earlier in the week that the association should stage a boycott of next weekend's concluding stages of the National Football and Hurling Leagues. Such a move could have made the play-off stages impossible to proceed with.
The proposals were debated tonight at a drawn-out extraordinary general meeting, held at two venues, one in Portlaoise and one in Belfast, and conducted over a live link, to consider an appropriate response to what the organisation considers the GAA's procrastination on the issue of proposed Government grants for intercounty footballers and hurlers.
Central to the current row between the GAA and GPA is the question of a proposal by the players' body that all members of intercounty panels receive an annual Government grant of up to €2,500.
At February's Central Council meeting, GPA delegate and chief executive Dessie Farrell proposed a motion asking for support for the idea, which had been extensively discussed with both Ministers and the Irish Sports Council.
The GAA sought to defer a decision pending discussions between the incoming president Nickey Brennan and the GPA. Farrell withdrew his motion but in the aftermath of a meeting between the GPA and the Minister for Sport, John O'Donoghue, which was not attended by any GAA official despite an invitation from the GPA, the players' body called this evening's meeting to decide on their response.
The GAA has, however, declined to make an official response to the looming crisis pending developments but earlier this month when asked about the prospect of a strike by the GPA, GAA director general Liam Mulvihill replied: "That's a hypothetical situation. We'll wait and see but we're not slow to take decisions when the need arises."
The association is to hold a more detailed press conference on Monday morning.