Sacked chief executive alleges doping cover-up
Aidan Tynan, who was sacked on Thursday, sent the letter to Mr O’Donoghue on January 18 saying he believed the issue “posed a very serious challenge to the board”.
In particular he warns of “the disintegration of the essential integrity required in managing cases involving the administration of prohibited substances of a serious nature to greyhounds”.
Central to Mr Tynan’s complaint is the fact that the two cases in question were not made public by the board despite being processed through its control committee, chaired by IGB chairman Paschal Taggart.
“In both cases, the trainers involved admitted that the EPO was administered to their greyhounds,” the letter reads.
“Fine and prize money forfeitures were imposed. However, contrary to the committee’s policy of publishing findings of the cases involving the administration of serious prohibited substances, and or cases bringing the cases into disrepute, the chairman ensured that these findings were not published.”
Mr Tynan also outlined how his advice that the cases be publicised was overruled by Mr Taggart.
“One of the cases involved a high profile trainer. On request from the chairman for my views on the matter as a member of the control committee, I recommended that committee publication policy be adhered to and that suppressing these findings could be more damaging to the industry in the long run. The chairman disregarded my views,” he wrote.
Mr Tynan also informed Mr O’Donoghue he had lost all confidence in management procedures.
“Given the level of public funding allocated by your department to grant-aid prizemoney for greyhound racing, I no longer have confidence that appropriate management procedures are being applied by the chairman.
“I do not believe that this is a sustainable situation if the industry is to continue its progress,” he said.
The letter then outlined how the IGB labs had become the first in the world to be able to recognise the presence of EPO in greyhounds. According to the letter, the board’s lab had “certified two urine samples as positive for EPO and widely recognised in the world of sport as a dangerous and prohibited illegal substance used for blood doping”.
“As unwelcome as these findings were, the reality of their use in greyhounds in Ireland posed a very serious challenge to the board in ensuring the highest levels of integrity in the industry,” he said.
