Groups urged to back Michael O’Reilly from a backlash

Former European medallist and RTÉ pundit Eric Donovan has called on Irish sports bodies to support Michael O’Reilly from a backlash to his reported suspension from the Olympic Games for an anti-doping violation.

irishexaminer.com yesterday revealed the news that rocked Irish sport on the same day the draw for boxing at the Games took place in Rio.

O’Reilly is yet to be named as the offending athlete, but the 23-year-old middleweight is understood to have returned “an adverse analytical finding in an A-sample” from a pre-tournament test conducted in Ireland.