[caption id="attachment_66473" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Mark McGovern"]
The Ulster Gaelic football club in San Francisco believes the 96-week suspension handed down to Mark McGovern's assailant is too lenient.
Player Patrick Power was issued with the suspension for his assault on the Fermanagh player during a game in San Francisco at the end of June.
McGovern, from the Belcoo O'Rahilly's club in Fermanagh and who was visiting San Francisco as a player, was knocked unconscious and only awoke from a coma in the past fortnight.
Ulster club chairman Joe Duffy said: "It doesn't seem fair. There have been a couple of cases where an official has been injured in games and it has led to life bans.
"Mark has a brain injury. We don't know the long-term consequences. He nearly died and yet they only give this guy a ban of less than two years. It makes no sense to me.
"Mark's medical bills are over a million dollars and that's no exaggeration. His family is over from Ireland. The whole thing has been awful, but at the end of the day Mark is improving and we can be grateful for that," Duffy said.
Reports have indicated that McGovern is now facing medical bills in the region of $1.1 million and this figure is likely to only rise as his recovery continues.
McGovern's treatment is costing an estimated $4,000 a day.
McGovern has gradually come out of his coma in San Francisco General Hospital He began by making hand signs and then he whispered to his 21-year-old girlfriend Jessica.
McGovern's parents Danny and Josie, and siblings Helen, Connie and Grace have been in San Francisco since he was hospitalized.
"He is flying in comparison to what he was. He is walking by himself and talking although his voice is like someone with a sore throat," said Grace, who had to postpone her wedding due to her brother's condition.
"He is fully aware of what happened and that he was in a coma. At the start he asked one of his friends (what happened) and he just said it was a tackle but he is now being more inquisitive and he knows it was an attack."
McGovern is now undergoing speech, occupational and physical therapy.
According to reports, the family is eager to thank everyone who has helped them and those who wish to contribute to a fund can check in at www.support4markmcgovern. com. Fundraisers are being organized both in Ireland and in San Francisco.
Meanwhile, the Irish Independent reported that Eamonn Gormley, who headed the San Francisco Competitions Control Committee, said the incident had been fully investigated.
"It was the maximum penalty and we believe that it was a fair outcome," he said of the player suspension.
Anyone convicted of serious violent conduct on a GAA pitch can face a life ban from the sport. Last month, two men were banned for life following a fracas at a Tyrone ladies GAA match in which an official was assaulted and a referee left unconscious, the paper reported.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, police said an American player was seen standing over the prone McGovern, after he fell to the ground with what was later diagnosed as a traumatic brain injury.
Separate to the action from the GAA, the case has been investigated as a possible assault.
Two witnesses told police that a player on the opposing team stood over the prone McGovern and said, "you won't get up from that."
McGovern was playing for the Ulster GAA Club in San Francisco against the local Celts side. He flew to San Francisco on a JI Visa in part to play football for the summer and was in the city for just a week when the incident took place on June 25. McGovern had lined out for the Fermanagh senior side in this year's Dr. McKenna Cup.
