“If you’re involved in a car crash I’m not sure whether you would want to see it again”

Sean Cavanagh today claimed he has yet to see the footage that left him hospitalised whilst playing for his club, Moy Tír na nÓg.

Cavanagh was involved in a clash that saw him taken to hospital 15 minutes into their championship quarter final with Edendork. The three-time All-Ireland winner sustained a broken nose and a number of facial injuries. How the incident came to pass has been a hot topic of debate since images of Cavanagh's injuries were posted online. https://twitter.com/buddygreene/status/1041308488578883589 Earlier this week, Edendork released a statement claiming that the club and player involved in the incident have sought legal action in relation to media publications that linked the incident to an overarching suggestion of an endemic problem of violence in Tyrone football. The county Tyrone CCC later ruled that that it would not take any further action and expressed its satisfaction that the referee had seen and ruled on what had happened. This prompted Moy Tír na nÓg to appeal the decision made by the county board, they released a statement of their own exclusively to SportsJOE which can be seen here. Speaking at the Electric Ireland GAA Minor Star Awards, Cavanagh stated he has yet to see the footage that left him hospitalised, and no longer wished to see it.

"No. If you’re involved in a car crash I'm not sure whether you would want to see it again. I haven't seen the footage and I know it hasn't been released. "But there are club members who saw it Monday night passed. They released a statement on it and I have to go with what they saw but I haven't, and I've no real burning ambition to do so. I am just focused on recovering."

When pressed on Moy's decision to appeal the ruling Cavanagh said his only focus was on recovering from his injuries and letting due process occur.

"It's like anything, there is going to be a level of interpretation involved. I'm sure if you talked to someone in the Moy they will tell you something different than someone from Edendork. "I am just letting that process happen and trying to keep my head down, trying to clear my head as much as anything else. Still suffering a little bit from concussion and still a wee bit off but thankfully on the mend."

A number of incidents have been highlighted in Ulster club football lately, with particular spotlight shone on the club game in Tyrone. Cavanagh however believes it to be a nationwide problem stemming from a cultural attitude to 'let things go' in the GAA.

"I think it's probably all football. I think in Tyrone, sometimes maybe we're not good at the PR side of things and we don't do ourselves any favours but I think there is certainly some nasty things that happen in Gaelic football fields up and down the country. "I think sometimes it's a cultural thing in GAA and in Ireland that we’re maybe happy to let incidents get out of control and turn into mass brawls."

Moy, Tír na nóg and Cavanagh will not have to await the outcome of their appeal.