Harte ponders television blackout
The 2008 All-Ireland champions had three players suspended for one month each last week after the Central Competitions Control Committee asked referee Pat McEnaney to review footage of their opening NFL clash with Derry.
Derry’s Eoin Bradley received the same sentence and his manager Damian Cassidy has complained that the process is discriminatory on the grounds that games which are not televised are not subject to the same scrutiny.
“It’s something we’ll have to consider,” said Tyrone boss Mickey Harte of the TV blackout threat.
“In fact, our county board have made suggestions that if that’s going to be case then we could reserve the right to decide whether our league games are to be televised or not.”
Mayo manager John O’Mahony rowed into the debate yesterday when he said that Harte had a “very interesting” point, adding that there “aren’t any TV cameras at Division Four games”.
It is an issue which, if it goes unchecked, could potentially impact teams closer to the championship and this isn’t the first time that Harte has grumbled about the use of such retrospective punishments.
“I don’t know how many times we’ve been on (TV) but the bottom line is if our game against Derry had not been televised we would have Martin Penrose, Conor Gormley and Justin McMahon playing against Mayo,” said Harte.
“That’s an undisputed fact. We were disadvantaged being on live TV. Two of them weren’t red cards. Martin Penrose was a different incident anyway. That’s not condoning what any of them did. We just need it to be on a level playing field.”
The day when all national league games are played in front of cameras is still a long way off but Harte has stressed that something along the lines of an independent citing officer may be one alternative route.
When asked about the so-called ‘trial-by-TV’ debate yesterday, GAA president Christy Cooney accepted that it was somewhat unfair on players who happened to be playing in games which were recorded for posterity.
But he was adamant that the GAA was not embarking on some sort of a “witch-hunt” and that, until their rules say otherwise, they would continue punish players whenever and however their indiscretions were highlighted.
“It is probably true, in fairness, because you are under the microscope of the television cameras and there are incidents spotted that the referee hasn’t seen or that the referee has made a call on and needs to review it.
“That happened in the case that you are referring to. The CCCC took a decision to charge those involved for whatever the incident was within the rules but it is not our intention to just go hunting after players.”
Cooney added that, though the system whereby players were called to task may not be perfect, there was nevertheless an onus on the GAA to deal with anyone who had been caught misbehaving on the field of play.
“Let’s see how that motion goes but the CCCC deal with things as they come up. They are not on a witch-hunt and if there is an incident involved deemed to be greater than dealt with in the referee’s report and particularly when the referee hasn’t seen it, there is an onus on the CCCC to take a course of action.”
A GAA spokesperson explained that every county in the league receives a contribution from the monies generated through television rights regardless of whether or not their games were televised.
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