Ulster SHC:The London senior hurling panel has threatened to boycott the Ulster Championship if their semi-final against Down on Sunday June 13th is not rescheduled.
London are due to meet Armagh in the Nicky Rackard Cup in Crossmaglen 24 hours earlier and the panel claims a request to have the Down fixture moved has been ignored by the Ulster Council.
“The London squad will travel back to London on Saturday evening on pre-arranged flights and will not be fulfilling the Ulster semi-final fixture on Sunday,” a statement released this morning read.
“However, it is hoped that common sense might still prevail at this late stage and that the game will be re-fixed for a later date.
London hurler and spokesperson for the panel John Joe Burke said he could not conceive of another team being asked to fulfil two competitive fixtures in such a short space of time.
“No team should be required to play two competitive championship matches in 24 hours, this is a serious player welfare issue,” he said.
“And it is hard to think of any other squad being asked to fulfil such a farcical schedule.
“As far as we’re concerned, there is no reason why the Ulster Council can’t apply some flexibility here, the Ulster championship does not feed into the national competitions.
“Of course we want to play the two games but within a rational timeframe.”