No request for B sample test, says equestrian body
The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) notified Mr O'Connor on Thursday the A sample taken from the horse in Athens last August had failed a drugs test.
The rider has 10 days from notification of the test result to request a confirmatory analysis, or B sample.
But an FEI spokeswoman yesterday said the federation had yet to receive a request.
Mr O'Connor could not be reached for comment. However, he has already stressed he will seek a B sample and will fight the test result.
One person close to the case said he believed the request was in the post.
However, he will be unable to request a B sample on a second horse of his which failed a drugs test because the timeframe in which to do so has expired.
ABC Landliebe tested positive for a prohibited substance at the Italian Nations Cup in Rome in May.
Mr O'Connor was notified of that positive test on July 30, and again had 10 days to seek a confirmatory analysis, but did not do so.
As a result, the FEI moved to sanction him. It did not ban or suspend Mr O'Connor, because it accepted the substance found in Landliebe was a sedative used for medicinal purposes.
However, it stripped him of the three classes he won at the event in Rome, and notified him of such on Thursday in tandem with the news of Waterford Crystal's failed result.
Mr O'Connor can appeal that sanction if he wishes to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, having 30 days to do so from the time of the notification.
The FEI's judicial committee, whose members hail from several countries, is scheduled to hold a phone conference today to discuss Mr O'Connor's case.
The Equestrian Federation of Ireland confirmed last night they had been given a reading of the illegal substance found in Waterford Crystal but said further details could not be made public.
The gold medallist yesterday again denied his horses had been either doped or "rapped", a practice whereby a horse is hit across the legs to condition it into jumping higher.
"I'm not interested in doping horses," he told RTÉ Radio. "It's not my policy ... I'm coming forward with the truth.
"There's no need for anybody to be the judge and jury on this. The FEI will be the final arbiters.
"I don't appreciate being antagonised about it. I'm coming forward. There's nothing to hide here."
But MEP Avril Doyle, the president of the Equestrian Federation of Ireland, the FEI's affiliate in Ireland, said future Government funding had been "jeopardised" by the controversy.
"A lot has been jeopardised even by the alleged prohibitive substance in sample A at this stage," she said. She stressed Mr O'Connor was innocent until proven guilty and did not deserve 'trial by media'.
