Senior GAA officials will defend the controversial GAAGO coverage of this year’s All-Ireland Championships when they appear before the Oireachtas sports and media committee today.

Coming amid the payments scandal which has engulfed RTÉ, GAA bosses will be questioned on the joint arrangement with the national broadcaster to show 38 championship matches – including a number of Munster SHC blockbusters and two of the four All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals – on the pay-per-view service this summer.

In a statement to the Oireachtas joint-committee, the GAA will say: "GAAGO has existed and flourished for eight years. The new arrangements and schedule were launched six months before a ball was even pucked. 

"But a date change for one game that was beyond our control, the fantastic match that followed, and some unfortunate commentary around coverage set us on a difficult trajectory for the summer.

"But the expectation that every single game should be on television is just not realistic. It's not in our interest, and not in our plans."

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