Tyrone boss Mickey Harte believes that provincial champions in the All-Ireland SFC are getting an unfair deal with the 'backdoor' system. The Red Hands manager has called for a change in the structure of the Championship to allow provincial champions who are defeated at the quarter-final stage to re-enter the competition "I have always felt that the system was flawed in that provincial winners who lose quarter-finals get no second chance whereas others do. "Provincial winners are the ones who do things right for longer than everybody else but get no reward if they lose a quarter-final," said Harte. After his side captured the Ulster SFC title last year, they exited the Championship in their next outing against Meath, and Armagh and Galway both suffered the same fate last weekend. "I'm talking about the general principle involved in not allowing beaten provincial champions to return to the All-Ireland. It's fundamentally unfair." "Instead of allowing four qualifiers into the quarter-finals, play a fourth round to cut it down to two. Play the four provincial champions off against each other with two winners qualifying for the semi-finals and the two losers playing in the two remaining qualifiers for a place in the semi-finals. "That guarantees two provincial champions a place in the semi-finals and two others have a second chance to make it. It's fairer all round. As things stand you could have two semi-finals that don't involve even one of the provincial champions," said the Tyrone boss. The GAA have made no indications of changing the All-Ireland SFC's current format, nonetheless Harte will be hoping that another successful provincial side exit the championship at the last eight stage this year, Tyrone take on Dublin this Saturday at Croke Park. "It's a simple way of guaranteeing provincial champions a fairer deal than they're getting at present," concluded Harte. Tweet

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