Michael O’Reilly out of Rio Olympics after supplement admission
As a result of the admission, O’Reilly is no longer contesting the provisional ban against him and now cannot box in Rio.
The news came as Sports Minister Shane Ross met with Sport Ireland management yesterday, during which “a broad range of topics were discussed”.
O’Reilly has been engulfed in controversy since the Irish Examiner revealed he had failed a drugs test on the eve of the Rio Olympic Games, which began last Thursday.
When the story broke, the violation of the Olympic doping rules meant he was provisionally suspended from competing.
It has now emerged that O’Reilly had been tested before leaving for Brazil and says he was notified on August 4 that an adverse finding had been made against him.
A statement reported on the RTÉ News website says he was given the “supplement by someone unrelated to his team or association”.
It said O’Reilly disclosed, at the time of the test, that he had taken the supplement.
In the statement, the 23-year-old from the Portlaoise Boxing Club apologised to his fellow boxers, team- mates, the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA), Sport Ireland, the Olympic Council of Ireland, and “all those who have supported” him.
The IABA said it was “very disappointed” that O’Reilly may have taken any supplement without consulting the IABA High Performance Support Team. It also confirmed that he had left the Olympic Village and that the Olympic Council of Ireland will be making arrangements for him to return to Ireland as soon as possible.
The meeting between Mr Ross and Sport Ireland was the first since the O’Reilly controversy broke and while it is understood the matter was discussed, Mr Ross’s spokesman said the meeting was “pre-arranged and routine”.
Sources close to Team Ireland have again insisted that it is their belief O’Reilly’s taking of a supplement was “no innocent mistake”.
It has been suggested that the supplement involved was to help him make the weight for his division, but no official confirmation of that has been forthcoming.
O’Reilly had been due to box on Friday.
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