Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games

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As with other sports, the COVID-19 pandemic caused disruption to Gaelic games, primarily in Ireland but also elsewhere in the world. Competitions were cancelled, postponed or restructured, while some teams were withdrawn or were unable to participate in those competitions that went ahead.

The sports (football, hurling, camogie, and ladies' football) saw all competitions suspended from 12 March 2020. The National Hurling League, National Football League, National Camogie League and Ladies' National Football League, which were all running at the time, were suspended, with competitions not intended to resume until 29 March at the earliest.^[1] This proved to be an optimistic assumption.

The 2020 Football and Hurling Leagues, as well as a revised 2020 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and 2020 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship were completed rapidly (and behind closed doors) between October and December of that year, in the period corresponding roughly to the gap between the second and third waves of the pandemic.^[2][3] London and New York were forced out of the football by the pandemic, the English-based teams missed the hurling. The Sligo county football team missed the 2020 championship due to an outbreak. The 2020 Camogie and Ladies' Leagues were cancelled.

The 2021 National Hurling League and 2021 National Football League were delayed when a third wave of the pandemic struck Ireland, infecting more people in the month of January 2021 than in the entirety of 2020.^[4]