Tyrone’s Ryan McMenamin has requested a personal hearing after he was banned for six weeks by the by the GAA’s Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) last night.
The All-Star defender was charged with a Category II offence after the CCCC viewed footage of him grabbing Kerry’s Paul Galvin in the groin area during a league match in Omagh on the Sunday before last.
The minimum suspension for such an offence is four weeks and would see McMenamin miss just one league game. As it stands, however, he is set to miss four - against Galway, Derry, Westmeath and Donegal.
McMenamin has therefore requested an audience with the Central Hearings Committee (CHC) after consultation with manager Mickey Harte and county secretary Dominic McCaughey.
It is understood that Tyrone and McMenamin have no quarrel with suspension but were taken by surprise by the length of it.
The hearing, in which McMenamin can state his case and hear that of the GAA, is likely to take place towards the end of this week.
The CHC can uphold the ban, reduce it, or dismiss it, but if McMenamin is not happy with the outcome he can take his case to the Central Appeals Committee (CAC).