GAA'S ANNUAL REPORT: The GAA's director general, Liam Mulvihill, wasn't available to present his 25th annual report to Congress, as he is convalescing after a recent illness.

But the association's PRO, Danny Lynch, stood in for him, and president Seán Kelly was also in attendance when the report was launched at Croke Park yesterday.

In it the director general expressed strong concerns about the future of hurling.

"When all the glamour of the big occasions is stripped away, however, there is reason for concern that hurling is not making overall progress despite all the coaching and games development initiatives and changes in competition structures, which were introduced with the purpose of improving the state of the game. . . but the general public are more interested in getting variety, ie., seeing new counties making a breakthrough, and on this measurement a lot of our recent efforts would be rated a failure.

"A fairer way of measuring progress would probably be to assess the extent to which each county has progressed within its own ability range over the past decade, and I am afraid that on this scale I cannot see any reason for congratulating ourselves either.

"I have pointed out for many years that it isn't sufficient to give hurling equal treatment with football, and we need to keep this in mind when we come up with programmes to improve the state of hurling. I believe there is goodwill at Government level towards helping us substantially with an integrated, well planned intervention aimed at making a major impact on the status of hurling."

On the related topic of deteriorating relations between the GAA's two main constituent games, football and hurling, Mulvihill expressed strong support for the continuing right of dual players to compete at inter-county and he also addressed the problem at other levels.

"Of even more concern are attitudes from some quarters that players could/should not play both codes at club level. Such a move would drive away many players to play another sport as their second game, as more and more players, in particular in younger grades, want to sample a range of sports. This whole trend needs to be nipped in the bud before more serious disputes escalate between the two codes."

Discipline - or the lack of it - is a perennial concern and Mulvihill said he was "disheartened" that it continues to be an issue.

On the related subject of match officiating, he warned that there would be a problem if new hurling referees were not brought forward, given the advancing age profile of the current top officials.

He went on: "In the context of refereeing it is appropriate to mention umpires, as they play a very important voluntary role. However, many top referees have been let down by poor judgment on the part of one or more of their umpires. I believe the time has come to assess umpires as well as referees and to insist that certain umpires be replaced where their standards don't measure up to the intercounty requirement.

"There is also a need to introduce specific training for the umpires who officiate with the top referees . . .

"Should consideration be given to getting aspiring referees trained by acting as umpires initially at major games?"

Mulvihill also called for the regulation of training sessions in the light of growing disquiet in medical circles about the intensity of preparations and the phenomenon of burnout.

"There is a body of medical evidence building up that the level of commitment in terms of training sessions for our top players is excessive, and I believe there is a strong case for regulating the amount of training sessions carried out by any team panel . . ."

President Kelly added that a postgraduate student at Queen's, Belfast, is researching this area and when that work is complete it will be reviewed by the GAA's medical and anti-doping subcommittee.

Other issues raised:

l A suggestion that in the event of Tyrone and Armagh meeting in this year's Ulster championship, consideration should be given to moving the game to Croke Park, as both teams have a huge support base and the whole country will want to see the game.

l That the televising of Saturday matches any later than mid-afternoon should be halted in order to protect evening club fixtures.

l A defence of the standardising of the sliotar, which had caused controversy when the speed and bounce of the new ball on last summer's hard pitches drew criticism.

Kelly said the various consultations should be finished in time for the new ball to be ready for this year's championship. Until this is finalised, last year's sliotar will be used.

l A clarification of GAA policy on co-operation with Garda investigations into violence during matches.

"Where GAA officials are requested officially to hand over association records at the investigation stage, the policy is not to do so, as they are internal GAA documents. However, where a GAA official or a referee is summoned to give evidence, the policy is to hand over any documentation which may be of help."

l A review of All-Ireland ticket allocations to be done on the basis of membership as submitted and paid.