GAA director general Páraic Duffy has hit out at Dublin and Donegal for "damaging the reputation of the Association" with their conduct after a Dublin player was accused of biting Patrick McBrearty during a league game in Ballybofey in April.
In his annual report for 2013, Duffy said “there is agreement on the fact that” McBrearty was bitten on the arm - though the Dublin county board disputed this at the time - in a “disgusting and shocking incident”, but neither county emerged from the subsequent investigation with any credit.
"The Central Competitions Control Committee investigate the matter as thoroughly as possible, but was greatly hindered by the absence of video and other evidence," Duffy wrote.
“The CCCC, therefore, was reliant on the integrity of those involved to play their part in ensuring that justice was served. However, no one was proved to have inflicted the bite simply because no one admitted to having done so and because the player who was bitten decided not to attend a hearing on the case.
“The counties involved may have chosen to deal with this incident solely in terms of their own interests; be that as it may, they did not emerge with any credit and succeeded only in damaging the reputation of the Association.
“It also brought unfair and totally unjustified criticism on our disciplinary system.”
He added: “The CCCC and the Central Hearings Committee did everything within their power to ensure that the perpetrator was held to account. But the responsibility for limiting the damage to the reputation of the Association lay with players, team officials and county committee officers.
“Leadership was required from the counties involved to protect the good name of the Association: it is disappointing that it was not forthcoming.”
After the episode, and another like it in a club game in Cavan, biting was designated a Category III infraction that carries a minimum suspension of eight weeks.
“One can only hope that the application of this directive will be unnecessary as players realise that such primitive behaviour is shameful and dangerous, and that it has no place in Gaelic games,” concluded Duffy in his report.
However, just last week, following allegations a DCU player was bitten in an O’Byrne Cup match against Dublin, GAA president Liam O’Neill reiterated the importance of players following through on allegations.
“I said last year that if you make an allegation you should follow it through and I am not really going to back into that. That surfaced a few times during the year as if that was an awful thing to say but I would hope that if an allegation is made the person who made it will follow through.
“I think that is a huge help to a disciplinary process … In fairness to the person who you allege (has done something), it is very unfair if you don’t follow it through (and) it is very unfair to make it in the first place. There is a collective responsibility here on players.”
