A TEAM-MATE OF brutally-injured GAA player Mark McGovern has been told “you will not get an eyewitness,” despite police appealing for more information about the incident via their anonymous tip line, according to SF Weekly.
McGovern was left in a coma after an “off-the-ball” incident during a Gaelic football match in San Francisco.
It is unclear exactly how the player was injured, but a police investigation is currently under way.
The BBC reports that, despite the lack of eyewitnesses, the player who caused the injury has been identified.
Joe Duffy, the coach of McGovern’s Ulster San Francisco, claimed he didn’t see the incident, but said one of his players saw the alleged assailant standing over McGovern following his attack.
The player in question allegedly told McGovern “you won’t get up from that,” in an attack that led the victim to lie “in the fetal position on his back” and causing him to have seizures.
According to a report in the Irish Daily Star, the player is in critical condition.
Jail the bastard for life. We don’t need his sort roaming around freely.
There is very little difference between this assault and the attacks on the Tyrone officials reported over the weekend, bar for the seriousness of the injury. Is GBH to become the norm in the GAA?
Why physical assaults like this are first investigated by the organisation before referral to the police astounds me. The lunatic fringe beating up on others in the name of sport is not entirely family-friendly entertainment.
Incidents like this ruin the game.
my late father suffered a brain injury while playing a club match he had part of a hurley inbedded in his brain accident or not same result for himself and family years of struggling no compo those days…. only a guard of honour at his funeral…..i feel for the hurler’s family…….
It was a footballer Mary , sorry about you relative though.
thanks fitz it means a lot to me
what happens on the pitch stays on the pitch if we start bringing cops and court cases into the GAA we will be left with a non contact pussy sport like soccer,
Would that still apply if a player purposely snapped an others neck? Sport does not legalise assault. Accidents happen, fine. But if the player wants to beat up on other he should take up boxing or ultimate fighting.
Do you play GAA. If so where? I wouldn’t mind calling round and sticking a knife in your gut. We’ll see if your opinion changes then.
Idiot It doesn’t happen in rugby, another pussy sport I suppose. In real sports you respect your opponent, in Gaa there is a nasty mean spirited tendency and sneaky oneupmanship.
I am not excusing the act as a cowardly one, it was but and the man should be punished by the GAA, but we have all seen fights at GAA matches if every fight at a GAA match ended up in court paul galvin, darragh o shea, stephen o neil, john mullane, amoung other top stars would all be locked up, its an agressive game and from the moment the manager gives his prematch talk, to the captains speech before throw in agression is building nothing can be done about it, but bringing the police and courts into it would ruin the game
There is a difference between a punch up and putting someone in a coma. Would it be ok if the player dies? No murder or manslaughter charges?
Bring in the police and courts without delay then
ive been to local club GAA matches, where major fights have broken out during play and tip down the the local after it and see both teams having pints and a bit of craic after it, it was a brutal assalt but team talks and fans and passion for the game do build agression, 99% of the time there is no premeditation behind these attacks, and its brutal that theres a man in citical condition, but these things happen
Lack of premeditation excuses nothing! Would you argue the same point if this assault had happened out on the street on a Saturday night after the pub?… ‘Ah sure there was no premeditation to it, your honour. Your man had just had a few too many and got carried away’!?