Munster GAA has written to six counties outlining new protocols banning the separate filming of matches in the Munster Hurling and Football Championship for video analysis.
The move is a surprising one given the surge in interest from most teams in capturing vital information during games and for review afterwards.
The letter, seen by leading GAA writer John Fogarty of the Irish Examiner cites health and safety reasons for the ban and encourages counties instead to use the match feed from RTÉ which is available online or can be arranged separately with RTÉ for after the game.
Analysts are also now banned from press box areas and are being encouraged to find their own viewing areas in the stands.
No such restrictions apply in any of the other provinces though it is likely that All Ireland Series matches played in Munster, in both Championships will have the same restrictions applied.
Around the world video analysis has become an essential feature of all major teams preparation for games and actions between the first and last whistle.
New software as well as detailed and often highly personalised approaches to monitoring individual players and passages of play are used to give a distant edge in key areas.
In US Sports including Basketball and NFL, as well as in most of the major European Soccer leagues, elements of the analysis have also become a significant part of the ways in which games are broadcast to fans.
Whether the ban will apply to all other forms of recording, including via social media or for use in sponsors social media campaigns is not yet clear but will be raised at next weeks Sport for Business Social Event on Social Broadcasting with Peter McKenna of the GAA and Mark Deering of Sky.
