THE coincidence of drawn All-Ireland finals and the Olympic Games is now well established. The last four replayed finals have fallen in Olympic years and generally have managed to overlap in some obscure way. Although I can't remember if there was a specific link between the infamous Munich Games and the Kerry-Offaly draw of 1972, the replays since were more co-operative.

In 1988, the GAA actually held back the replay by a week so as not to cut across the Olympics coverage from Seoul. Meath centre-fielder Liam Hayes who was due to cover those games obtained permission from the Sunday Press to stay behind and prepare for the replay.

Eight years later there was no precise synchrony but at the 1996 Philips Manager of the Year awards, some controversy was caused by the fact that Eric de Bruin was passed over for the top prize. It was obviously thought that too many question marks hung over his spectacular achievements brought about by dramatic improvements despite a lack of any convincing precedent. Instead Liam Griffin was recognised for the exploits of the Wexford hurlers. Hmmmm.

Next month's replay will see Sonia O'Sullivan - hopefully by then a dual medallist - doing a lap of honour to promote GOAL, the sports-based third world relief agency and doubtless receiving a rapturous reception.

Yet it is the coincidence of the replay and an international event closer to home which should trouble the GAA. A day later the International Rules first Test takes place at Croke Park and will have been much diminished by the big match the previous day.

Last year, a replay would have wrecked the International Rules tour to Australia. A number of influential players would have been unavailable and the Tests would have lost out completely in terms of media coverage. This was pointed out at the time but the worst never came to pass and all - including, to declare an interest, media - meant to travel did so.

A year on and the same hypothetical scenario has been allowed become a reality. This time, the impact on the international panel isn't quite as pronounced because the Galway and Kerry players should be available for the second Test - and one or two hardy souls may even make themselves available for the first, a day after their All-Ireland exertions.

But the impact on publicity will be as bad as last year and the implications worse. Up until 12 months ago, the GAA comfortably held the whip-hand in relation to successfully marketing International Rules. The highpoints in terms of attendance - between 30,000 and 35,000 - were all achieved in Ireland.

Last year the Australian Football League got involved (previously the Tests had been privately promoted) and put in a major promotional push. The result saw crowds of 65,000 in the Melbourne Cricket Ground and a capacity 45,000 in Adelaide. The stakes had been raised for the GAA in 2000.

For the last few weeks a television and radio advertising campaign has given the Tests a big profile which is now threatened. Crowds from Galway and Kerry are less likely to stay around Dublin for the first Test, particularly when none of their countymen are going to be playing.

What would probably have been fairly substantial coverage in various media in the week leading up to the first outing will now be badly affected and this in a week ending with a very busy fixture list across a range of sports. Aspects of the Australian approach to the international project can be criticised, such as their tendency to treat the series as a bonus for being selected on their equivalent of the All Stars rather than a game with its own distinct demands.

But in the last year Croke Park has been guilty of a sloppy disregard for the whole concept which, ironically, it has championed over the years despite an indifference in Australia which only ended two years ago.

If risking the well-being of last year's tour wasn't bad enough, then president Joe McDonagh got himself double booked for the second Test and departed Australia to attend a GAA function in Boston.

On Monday current president Sean McCague acknowledged the problem but said the immediate priority was to sort out the proposed changes to the football and hurling championships and how they would impact on any new calendar.

McCague would be sympathetic to the needs of the international team as he was assistant manager of Ireland in 1987 and '90 but he doesn't appear to view the current debacle and any potential solutions as matters of urgency. Of course it's too late for this year but surely the lesson for the future has now been hammered home.

Despite all the talk about the GAA cleaning up on the replay, most Croke Park officials would gladly have foregone the £2 million windfall in order to be spared the logistical difficulties of the coming week. The GAA has been dropped into the current mess because the culture of referees declaring bogus draws has been allowed go unchecked.

Pat McEnaney - who otherwise performed well on Sunday - played 39 seconds of injury time when a rough assessment of the video suggested that three minutes and 23 seconds would have been more appropriate. It is generally accepted that referees have the "discretion" to play what injury time they choose but this is a misinterpretation of the rules.

The relevant passage under the heading Duties of the referee states: "To record playing time and to extend time in each half for deliberate or incidental delay (my italics). The rules also state that a referee's decision on any question of fact and in regard to time shall be final but that doesn't mean he can ignore his duties as laid down in the rulebook.

No one with any sense really believes referees are on replay bonuses but the pressures to settle for a draw are nonetheless pressing. Why risk having a match end in a possibly controversial one-point win when a draw holds out the possibility of a clearcut winner in the replay. This is particularly true nowadays when a referee is not even appointed to take charge of the replay.

There is an easy consensus that a draw is fair on everyone. But of course a team that might have won in the additional couple of minutes has been treated unfairly, albeit that no one can be sure which team.

Two amateur teams will now be put through the wringer all over again and at the end of this year's final - December or whenever - someone will have to lose.

There is now no serious division of opinion about the merits of an independent time-keeping system. On Monday Sean McCague's acceptance of this was tempered by concerns about the difficulty of implementation throughout the GAA's many different levels. But in most sports technological advances don't trickle all the way down the system. Taverners' cricket matches for example don't have recourse to a magic eye.

Even within the GAA, total implementation isn't always observed. For instance the main business of Monday's press conference, where the president supported the introduction of automatic timing, was the publication of the clar for next month's special congress. Among the motions was one proposing the introduction of a substitutes' zone through which replacements would be monitored in senior inter-county matches. According the International Rules proper respect in the calendar isn't dependent, however, on the introduction of proper timing procedures. Brian McEniff, the put-upon Ireland manager, spoke in restrained terms on Monday about the desirability of bringing the football final forward by a week.

The obvious merit in this proposal is that the international series wouldn't be annually placed at the mercy of nervy referees. Neither should it be logistically out of the question. Is there, for instance, a need for a two-week break between the All-Ireland hurling and football finals?

Anyway the die is cast for this year. The ads for the Test series will continue to be broadcast, including the stirring slogan that there's no compromise in International Rules. In fact few of the GAA's activities this year have been so badly compromised.