Fagan banned for two years

An adjudication hearing has banned Mullingar athlete Martin Fagan for two years for taking performance enhancer E.P.O.

Athletics Ireland and the Irish Sports Council announced the ruling by the Irish Sport Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel saying that, contrary to Article 2.1 of the Irish Anti-Doping Rules, Fagan "tested positive for the presence of a prohibited substance or its metabolite or marker, recombinant erythropoietin, in a sample of his urine collected on behalf of the Irish Sports Council during out of competition testing at Tucson, Arizona on the 10th December 2011".

The 28-year-old marathon runner has 14 days to appeal the decision.

The panel decided that, because of the prompt admission of the violation by Mr Fagan, the appropriate commencement date for the period of ineligibility is December 10, 2011 - the date on which the sample was collected.

Fagan had yesterday cited depression and injuries as his reasons for taking the performance enhancer.