Denis Walsh joined Thursday's Off the Ball to look back at a tumultuous week for the GAA.
The furore over the decision to move Kildare's qualifier against Mayo to Croke Park and the subsequent back down from the GAA after the huge public support received by the Lillywhites from around the country has been viewed as a victory for the grassroots of the organisation.
However, Walsh pointed out that both Kildare and Waterford (who couldn't host matches in this season's hurling championship) had been in financial difficulties up until a couple of years ago and had they managed their finances better - this situation may not have arose.
"It is a mess'" he told Nathan, "Waterford were at a huge disadvantage. When you see the capacity, I know in Kildare it's been sanctioned for a serious match but Walsh Park is something similar.
"It's not satisfactory by any means. One thing that Waterford and Kildare County Boards have in common, and this hasn't really been pointed out much, they were financial basket-cases up to a couple of years ago.
"Croke Park were writing cheques to get Kildare out of bother. Waterford were in serious bother for the money they spent on preparing teams going back a few years.
"The money that could have been invested in infrastructural stuff like their stadiums probably was being spent elsewhere.
"Waterford and Kildare have made this bed for themselves too. I mean, their inter-county grounds are not up to scratch on so many levels.
"Ok, there are plans in place in both counties to sort that out but this year has certainly hurt Waterford, that's for sure," he added.
Catch the full discussion here:
