THE TYRONE county board CCC (Competitions Control Committee) has proposed a range of suspensions in response to the violent scenes at the county league final between Carrickmore and Dromore earlier this month.
The controversial match, won by Dromore, descended into chaos towards the end with fighting spreading into the stands, and has also attracted the attention of a PSNI investigation after a spectator lost part of his ear in the violence.
Three Carrickmore players and four spectators from either club have received lengthy recommended suspensions: a year each for the supporters and bans totalling 72 weeks for Carrickmore goalkeeper Plunkett McCallan, defender Colm McGurk and substitute Gabriel McCallan.
Further proposed punishments are fines of £300, the maximum provided for in rule, for both clubs as well as a recommendation that their next two competitive matches be played at neutral venues with proceeds from the game going to charity.
The clubs also face being banned from next year’s league play-offs.
All affected parties have three days to apply for a hearing.
“The sanctions proposed by the Tyrone CCC are amongst the most severe ever issued by Tyrone GAA,” said county PRO Damien Harvey, who added that the investigation into the events had been completed without delay and sanctions handed out in the space of 10 days.
“It was handled as quickly as possible, and I think that was important, and while there may be some people who believe it should have been in a shorter period of time, the Tyrone CCC needed to review absolutely everything and make sure we made the right decision.
“They have issued proposed sanctions, and it’s now up to the clubs to consider those sanctions.”
The league final at Dunmoyle on November 13th, erupted into violence with just four minutes remaining. Fighting among the players on the pitch spread to the stand, with a number of spectators sustaining injuries. Footage of the incidents, from the official Tyrone County Board video, was central to the investigation.
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