Lee Keegan slams ‘scandalous’ draw decision by the GAA

The Mayo icon spoke his mind.

Lee Keegan did not hold back when giving his views on the recent draw for the All-Ireland round-robin group stages.

The draw took place last Wednesday, and has dominated GAA conversations in the week leading up to today's Munster and Connacht SFC finals.

The draw also conjured up a group of death, with Group 4 featuring the winner of the Connacht final between Mayo and Galway, the loser of the Ulster final between Armagh and Donegal, Dublin, and Derry.

This has lead to an argument that Mayo and Galway may be better off losing their final.

The whole scenario has lead to a dilution of the normal excitement associated with provincial finals, and has lead to further criticism of the GAA and their promotion of Gaelic football.

Speaking on the Sunday Game, ahead of the Connacht final, Mayo legend, Lee Keegan, said: "I think having the draw Wednesday is scandalous, for a couple of reasons.

"There's no hype about it. It's on midday on a Wednesday, people are working, they're not even paying attention to what's going on.

"From a player point of view or manager, you're creating draws before any provincial final is even finished.

"We're not selling our game, we're not promoting our game, we're taking away something that's meant to be exciting, we're talking about group stages when today is a big day for provincial finalists.

"I just think it's absolutely ridiculous that we're even having this conversation about group stages when we have our two provincial finals to finish."