GAA:Tyrone's Ryan McMenamin has had an eight-week ban imposed on him while the Tyrone county board were fined €2,000, the Central Hearings Committee (CHC) confirmed this afternoon.
McMenamin attended a personal hearing with the CHC last night after turning down the proposed six-week suspension handed out by the Central Competitions Controls Committee (CCCC) for grabbing Kerry’s Paul Galvin in the groin area during a Division One league game in Omagh on February 15th.
Both the player and county board were shocked at the “severity” of the proposed suspension for what the CCCC described as a category II offence. There is a minimum suspension of four weeks for such an offence and McMenamin instead opted for a full hearing.
A four-week ban would have seen McMenamin miss just one league game (against Galway on March 7th). However, with an eight-week ban he will miss four games, just as he would have on a six-week ban.
McMenamin will be unavailable for Tyrone’s games against Galway (March 7th), Westmeath (March 15th), Donegal (March 21st) and Derry (March 28th). As it stands he will return in time for the visit to Mayo on April 12th.
The county board's proposed fine of €5,000 came after it didn’t accept the penalty proposed by the CCCC " for disruptive conduct by their players" immediately after the defeat to Kerry. The CHC today imposed a reduced €2,000 fine on the county board.
While there are no previous examples of CHC imposing a more severe sentence it is within the committee’s remit to do so, though McMenamin and the county board now have the option of appealing to the Central Appeals Committee (CAC). If that fails, they can bring their case to the Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA).
The CCCC was able to review the initial incident after referee Jimmy White failed to see McMenamin’s transgression and ticked Galvin for feigning injury after he dropped to the ground.
McMenamin has successfully appealed a ban before. In 2005, he was suspended for four weeks (two games) after kneeling on the chest of Armagh’s John McEntee in the replay of the Ulster final.
However, he successfully appealed to the DRA and the ban was rescinded in time for a quarter-final meeting with Dublin, but after he sat out the win over Monaghan.
Meanwhile, Offaly hurler Andrew Mitchell has had his red card against Offaly changed to a yellow after the CHC downgraded his offence to ‘careless use of the hurley’.
Meath’s Kevin Reilly has had the yellow card he received against Cork rescinded on video evidence.