McMenamin facing CCCC investigation

GAA NEWS TYRONE v KERRY FALLOUT:TYRONE'S RYAN McMenamin's fate hangs in the balance, as the GAA's Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) is set to pursue an infraction in Sunday's Kerry-Tyrone NFL fixture in Omagh. The incident took place in the 17th minute when McMenamin is seen to grab Kerry's Paul Galvin in the groin area. Jimmy White, the match referee from Donegal, didn't appear to notice the incident because the only action taken was to issue a black-book ticking to Galvin for feigning injury.

In these circumstances the procedure is that the CCCC decide whether to seek the referee’s clarification in relation to the incident. He can reply that he saw what happened and decided it didn’t merit any action on his part or he can accept he didn’t see it and allow the committee to process the matter further.

Wicklow’s Jimmy Dunne, chair of the CCCC, is currently on holidays and the next meeting of the committee, which met last week, isn’t due until next month. In the meantime, however, Tipperary’s Michael O’Brien, the deputy chair, circulated video footage of the incident to other committee members.

In it, Galvin is pulled up on a solo run and as he turns to walk back with the ball McMenamin runs into the picture and pushes the Kerry man, who drops the ball. McMenamin then pats Galvin’s chest with his right hand before using the same hand to grab at his opponent’s groin.

Galvin winces and sinks to his knees before getting up again, whereupon he is ticked by White.

The decision of the CCCC hasn’t been announced, but they are expected to ask the referee to review the video. If White gives the committee the go-ahead they will discuss by telephone the proposal of an appropriate suspension.

Precedent for an offence of this nature goes back to the summer of 2006 when Donegal defender Paddy Campbell was handed a four-week suspension on the basis of video evidence showing him fouling Derry player Enda Muldoon, who retaliated with a punch of his own which earned him a red card and a subsequent month-long ban. McMenamin isn’t under any obligation to accept such a suspension and can opt instead for a hearing, which means that the matter is no longer before the CCCC, which would instead prosecute the case against the Tyrone player.

Should that hearing go against him, there are two avenues of appeal, one to the GAA’s Central Appeals Committee and finally to the association’s independent arbitration body, the Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA).

McMenamin was involved in one of the DRA’s early decisions in 2005 after being suspended for a foul on Armagh’s John McEntee in the replayed Ulster final in Croke Park. Although he missed a qualifier match, the Tyrone player escaped serving any further suspension when the arbitration committee controversially overturned it, allowing him back for that year’s All-Ireland quarter-final against Dublin.

On Sunday McMenamin had a niggly match, being captured on camera in verbal exchanges with Kerry’s Colm Cooper and involved with Marc Ó Sé in an incident at the very end of the match, which nearly triggered a widespread outbreak of disorder.

It took the smart intervention of local stewards at Healy Park to ensure that the teams were separated and order was restored.

Provocative behaviour is one of the targets of the current experimental disciplinary rules in the National Leagues.

Yellow-card offences that provide for a player to be sent off but replaced saw four players sidelined in Omagh. Black-book offences include the use of “abusive or provocative language or gestures”.

Neither manager, Mickey Harte nor Jack O’Connor, got too worked up over the incidents when speaking afterwards, although the Kerry manager had been incensed by something that happened in the brief disorder at the end of the match and had to be restrained.

The Tyrone manager was measured in his observations when asked what impact the new yellow card dispensation was having on matches.

“I suppose it means that players are more likely to be sent off. That’s for sure. Looked at another way, it is in their own hands. In the past if someone got a yellow card they were walking a tightrope as they could be sent off and not replaced.

“At least if the black card situation is used properly, that puts people on red alert and maybe they can manage that alright. The jury’s still out on it and I suppose each game will throw up different scenarios. I’m still okay with it.”