Tyrone manager Mickey Harte has challenged the merits of the proposed eight-week ban that could be imposed on his player, Tiernan McCann.
McCann's dive in the All-Ireland quarter-final victory over Monaghan on Saturday has generated much debate and criticism, but the GAA’s Central Competition Controls Committee's proposed ban has been deemed to be too harsh in many quarters.
Off The Ball's Dave McIntyre spoke to Harte tonight and the three-time All-Ireland winning manager pointed towards the rule-book.
"I couldn't see how that could be the case when there is a stipulation there in the rule-book already that such a thing merits a yellow card, then I don't see why any ban would be forthcoming and again, I'm saying that Tiernan over-reacted to something but I don't think he's the first person [who has] ever over-reacted to anything and he won't be the last," he said, adding that he spoke to McCann and also defended Sean Cavanagh about another incident from the match.
"We don't want that to be part and parcel of our game but it happened on this occasion and everybody has acknowledged that who needs to acknowledge it. So I think it's time to leave it behind."
After Dave asked him about his view of The Sunday Game's criticism of recent incidents involving Tyrone and public comments about the perceived culture of cynical play, Harte responded: "My overall thoughts were that there's a lack of balance in that style of reporting from that particular department. Simple as that," he said.
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