Galvin suspension halved to 12 weeks

Kerry captain Paul Galvin has had his suspension halved to 12 weeks by the Central Hearings Committee (CHC) after his case was heard for a second time last night.

The newly-convened CHC panel found Galvin guilty of three offences but crucially on the category four offence it deemed a 12-week "suspension in all codes at all levels" sufficient.

He was also suspended for a category two offence that carries a four-week suspension that runs concurrently with the 12-week ban.

The suspensions are effective from June 15th when Galvin was sent off by referee Paddy Russell in the Munster semi-final win over Clare, which means he will be available for the All-Ireland final should Kerry reach it.

Galvin will not be making any further appeals after a Kerry county board spokeperson stated that the player was accepting the decision of the CHC rehearing.

Galvin's case was sent back to the CHC by the Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA) after it found "procedural irregularities" in the former's handling of the case.

Galvin was initially suspended for his reaction to a second yellow card from Russell that saw him slap the notebook from the officials hand before berating him and his linesman.

The members of last night's committee were Jim Berry (Wexford), Joe Flynn (Leitrim), Fintan Ginnity (Meath), Eamon McMahon (Antrim), Garrett O' Reilly (Cavan) and Joe Taaffe (Sligo).

The whole long drawn out process will provoke further scrutiny and criticism of the GAA disciplinary procedures after a number of high profile cases this summer.

Meanwhile, the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) rescheduled the Christy Ring Cup final between Westmeath and Carlow for Tullamore at 6.00pm on Sunday, August 3rd.

The game was due to take place on Friday night (7.30pm) under lights at Croke Park but opposition from both finalists prompted a change.