FORMER Tyrone star Enda McGinley has predicted the day when the failure to protect high-profile GAA players from unnecessary criticism will come back to haunt the Association.
The three-time All-Ireland winner has hit out at the GAA for their handling of the Tiernan McCann case and insisted that some GAA pundits needed to act more responsibly.
Killyclogher clubman McCann is free to play in Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final against Kerry after his eight-week ban for ‘discrediting the association’ was thrown out by the Central Hearings Committee in the early hours of Thursday morning.
McCann feigned injury – a yellow card offence - during Tyrone’s All-Ireland quarter-final win over Monaghan 13 days ago, but the CCCC proposed an eight-week ban that would have ended the player’s inter-county season.
McGinley said the GAA should feel “a wee bit embarrassed” by how McCann was treated and that there was scant regard for how the wave of criticism affected the player over the past couple of weeks.
“Every player is different,” said McGinley.
“It won’t affect some players and, in fact, it might inspire them. Certainly from chatting to friends who would know Tiernan well, they feel he’s the type of boy who could react really positively [against Kerry].
“If he does that, hats off to the lad.
“Personally, that sort of coverage would have had a devastating affect on me. There are some sad stories out there and when people are so over-the-top and aggressive, particularly in the era of social media, I can easily foresee a day when there is a very serious outcome from a similar story like this one."
McGinley added: “These things need to be addressed with development squad and young players should be taught how to cope with criticism and put structures in places to support players. By all accounts, Tiernan will cope with this as well as somebody could be expected to.
“Not every player will. I think there needs to be an awareness of that, not just within teams but within TV studios and media outlets.”
McGinley believed the GAA “certainly didn’t protect their player” while the Errigal Ciaran clubman was unaware of any action the Gaelic Players Association took in assisting McCann since the diving incident and outcry.
“The GAA certainly didn’t protect their player and I wasn’t too aware of what the GPA did in defending their player,” said the 2008 Allstar.
“The players don't get paid. When someone signs up to a professional sport, they are signing themselves up for a lot of media attention.
“To want to represent your family, your club and your county you don’t sign up for that kind of scrutiny. Everybody makes mistakes but it’s the abuse that he’s taking. That sort of abuse can follow you around and can affect you negatively. There shouldn’t be such negative consequences to playing an amateur game.”
A GPA spokesperson confirmed: “There was contact made with Tiernan the next day and I think it was dealt with by the [Tyrone] squad.
“Every member has recourse to support for any reason from the GPA. Any support is ongoing for Tiernan if he wishes to access it.”
However, sources from within the Tyrone camp claim the only conversation McCann had with the county’s GPA representative was to help him write an apology for feigning injury in the latter stages of the Monaghan game. This offer was declined by McCann.
The GPA spokesperson referred to their recent Fair Play campaign for players that was designed to “raise awareness of their own legacy and their actions on the field”.
The spokesperson added “plucking a suspension that was never going to stick” was not the correct course of action in the McCann case.
Meanwhile, McGinley was not surprised McCann’s proposed ban was thrown out by the CHC.
“It was a completely knee-jerk reaction [by the CCCC] and just added to the whole circus.
“Why should anyone accept a punishment that has never been meted out before? Really, it’s hard to get away from the belief that the punishment was in reaction to pundits in a studio.
“Tiernan McCann would be annoyed at what’s happened and he’ll move on from it, but the GAA should be a wee bit embarrassed by the ongoing, reactionary behaviour of what is said in the RTE studios.”
The Sunday Game pundit Ciaran Whelan insisted Tyrone apologise for their “antics” while former Meath player Colm O’Rourke said there was a “bad smell” following Tyrone football around.
McGinley added: “Any public body or otherwise should not be so apparently led by the popular agenda or topics in the media because it just smacks of weakness and leaves the GAA open to appeals and harms its reputation.
“Nobody in Tyrone, including Tiernan himself, would stand over what happened. It was a mistake and a silly reaction… In a split second he regretted it.
“But my gut feeling is had there been no mention or highlight of it [on The Sunday Game] there would have been no sanction. That situation can’t go on.”
McGinley, who played under Mickey Harte for his entire inter-county career, believed that “throwaway comments” were being packaged as irrefutable facts in order to condemn Tyrone.
“For Tyrone at the minute there have been numerous stories and, with any aspect of life, if there is a lot of flak coming your way there has to be a period of self-reflection,” McGinley said.
“You have to think how much of that is legitimate. There are going to be elements of legitimacy to some of the complaints, but what you always want in life is an element of fairness and balance.
“There does not appear to be any element of fairness or balance about the ongoing, hyper-reaction to anything involving the Tyrone team.
“Things are now being accepted [as fact]. People are readily referring to the All-Ireland U21 final [between Tyrone and Tipperary]. That U21 final was a fantastic exhibition of underage football. It was really hard, tight, competitive football between two driven teams.
“There were a few misdemeanors on both sides. But take it for what it was: a fantastic game of football.
“But now certain things are used as throwaway comments [to condemn Tyrone], ‘the sledging, the diving…’, it’s almost accepted.
“There is so much of this case against Tyrone that is built on absolutely nothing; throwaway comments that have stuck. The reaction is disappointing from a Tyrone point of view.”
