Cookstown and Finuge must submit ‘spitgate’ videos

Cookstown and Finuge have been asked by the GAA to submit their video footage of last month’s All-Ireland intermediate club final as they investigate a spitting offence against Paul Galvin.

The Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) have requested each club provide their unedited recordings of the February 9 game in Croke Park.

GAA rules state video evidence is only admissible as long as the CCCC are convinced it is “reliable and unedited“.

As Kerry’s Tony O’Keeffe was recently appointed as chairman of the CCCC, he is expected to stand aside to avoid a conflict of interests as the committee carries out its enquiry.

The development comes as a new video clip showing a Finuge official and a Cookstown player embroiled in a heated incident has appeared on YouTube.

The 22-second clip shows the pair making aggressive head gestures as a Finuge player stands between them.

Cookstown claim the incident happened five minutes before Galvin was spat on.

“Why should we be hung out to dry?” a Cookstown source said. “We are being made out to the bad guys here but a lot of things happened in that game, which have not been put into the public domain.”

However, the Irish Examiner also understands there are some in the Fr Rocks club who believe the player implicated in the incident with Galvin should make a public apology for his transgression as relations between Kerry and Tyrone continue to deteriorate.

In his statement on Tuesday, Galvin expressed his regret at how the intense rivalry between the counties had developed in recent times.

Owen Mulligan, who this week defended his Cookstown clubmate online and claimed his team were subjected to sectarian abuse during the game, has also been advised within the club not to make any further statements.

As of last night, the latest YouTube clip had received less than 2,000 hits.

The original clip of the incident involving Galvin has received almost 52,000 views to date