Pilloried O’Brien deserves better, say Dubs

Dublin chairman Andy Kettle said Kevin O’Brien has been “pilloried” as a result of bite allegations made against him and rejected some of the claims made by Jim McGuinness.

Admitting the Donegal manager’s comments surprised him somewhat, Kettle said he was deeply disappointed at how the defender’s name was besmirched anecdotally during the process.

“As in Common Law, we would always feel that a player is innocent until proven guilty and the Dublin player cited has been pilloried, for want of a better word, while being exonerated by the procedure.”

He added: “As far as Dublin are concerned, yes, it’s over. There was a Dublin player cited, he went through the disciplinary procedure of the organisation. There was found to be no evidence against him so as far as Dublin are concerned it’s over and finished with.”

At Donegal’s press night on Thursday ahead of their May 26 Ulster quarter-final against Tyrone, McGuinness stated the Dublin medic had agreed with his Donegal counterpart that McBrearty had been bitten.

“Our doctor confirmed he was bit,” McGuinness had pointed out. “The Dublin doctor confirmed he was bit. The hospital who took him in confirmed he was bit. The player in question apologised to him after the game for what he had done.”

Kettle had previously said their doctor had determined it was a bruise and he stood by his comments.

Speaking at Dublin’s open evening in Ballyboden St Endas yesterday, he said: “That’s quite correct. You can have several interpretations of bruises and lacerations. Well, one is a broken skin, the other is not. It certainly was not broken skin.”

Kettle also questioned McGuinness’s claim that O’Brien had apologised to McBrearty after the game. “That’s not my information. They probably shook hands as players normally do after a match.”

Kettle also admitted Dublin would have accepted the Central Hearings Committee’s decision were they in Donegal’s position.

Asked if he was disappointed McGuinness had raised the issue two weeks after O’Brien was cleared, Kettle responded: “Dublin would have accepted the verdict of the disciplinary process and left it at that. That’s the way we would have handled it.”