Christy Cooney doesn't foresee soccer and rugby being played at Croke Park after the opening of the new Aviva Stadium next year. While GAA headquarters is set to host some glamour international fixtures in the next few weeks, the current arrangement with the FAI and IRFU ends in the middle of next year when the Lansdowne Road redevelopment is complete. There have been calls for the GAA to keep Croke Park open beyond 2010 for the top rugby and soccer matches for which the Aviva Stadium's 50,000 capacity will not be capable of meeting the demand, but the GAA president believes commercial realities will dictate that all future rugby and soccer internationals will be played at the South Dublin venue. Asked if he could see soccer or rugby returning to Croke Park, he replied: "I don't honestly think that because the commercial reality is that (the IRFU and FAI) have agreed naming rights for their stadium. "They have seats sold to patrons which guarantees that games are going to be played there. If you are paying significant money for naming rights you are going to expect games are going to be played there. "Our own association will have to decide whether they want to open the stadium up on a permanent basis but that is another day's work.'' Cooney stressed that the GAA would be open to any approaches from either the FAI or IRFU, but added that Lansdowne Road was rugby's traditional home, while the FAI had struggled on occasions to fill Croke Park and also had some issues with the size of the playing area. With each soccer and rugby international bringing approximately EUR1.3m into the GAA's coffers, there is going to be a substantial financial shortfall when the tenants leave but Cooney was unwilling to speculate on how that could be made up in future years. "We are in a different world now, commercially, as well. These are challenging times and we have challenging times even with regards our own pitch and own facilities. "Maybe a season with less games on the pitch mightn't be any harm as well and we might do something about attracting more clubs to play here," he added. Tweet

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