Heavy afternoon rain caused Sunday's postponement

The GAA has defended the late decision to postpone Sunday's Allianz NFL clash between Armagh and Dublin.

The game was called off less than an hour before the scheduled throw-in because of a waterlogged pitch and over 1,500 fans were already in the ground.

"The health and safety of the players has to be paramount," the GAA said in a statement on Monday.

The game has been provisionally rescheduled for Wednesday 9 April and all spectators will get in free.

On Sunday, the Armagh county board decided that it would have been logistically impossible to give refunds to supporters as admission was by cash payment at the stiles.

The GAA statement said that it understood "the frustration caused to Dublin and Armagh supporters due to the enforced postponement" of the game.

The statement added that "the pitch was considered playable up to noon".

"The pitch remained playable subsequent to this but following continuous rain and hail from noon the referee decided that the pitch was unplayable at approximately 1.30pm.

"The match referee has sole responsibility for any decision taken relative to the suitability of a pitch from a premise of health and safety and his decision is final.

"The Association fully understands the desire and aspiration of everybody associated with the teams to play the game but fully supports the referee in his decision."

Armagh chairman Kevin Brady has already expressed unhappiness that the county coffers will now be forced to take "a hit" because of the postponement.

The Armagh official also said that he believed that game could have been played if it had been delayed until 1500 BST.

However, Croke Park insisted that the "only option" will be to admit all supporters into the ground free at the rescheduled fixture.

The GAA's Central Competitions Control Committee will have to officially rubberstamp the 9 April date for the refixture.