The GAA's director of games administration Feargal McGill has reiterated that there will be no change in venue for Saturday's All-Ireland SFC qualifier between Kildare and Mayo.

The Lilywhites released a statement this evening to confirm that they would not be travelling to the capital this weekend as they feel that the game should be played in Newbridge, having earned home advantage by virtue of being drawn first out of the hat this morning ahead of the Westerners.

Mr McGill told The Irish Times today that should Kildare stick to their guns with the decision the game will be awarded to Mayo.  

"The game has been fixed for 7pm in Croke Park, and that is not going to change under any circumstances," he said. "We fully appreciate where Kildare are coming from. We don't take home venue off of a team lightly. The last thing we wanted to do was take this out of Newbridge, but we simply had no choice.

"The anticipated attendance on Saturday, for us, would be 18,000-20,000. Given that likely attendance, and given the lack of capacity, we had a serious fear for people actually turning up in Newbridge without tickets, and that would have led to major safety concerns.

"Under those circumstances, we felt there was no choice but to ask Kildare to nominate an alternative venue. They refused to do so. 

"If Kildare don't show up in Croke Park on Saturday at 7pm the game will be awarded to Mayo."

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