O’Mahony ‘should not have been identified before hearing’

KERRY footballer Aidan O’Mahony should never have been identified in public as having failed a drugs test before a hearing that is expected to prove his innocence took place, Mayo boss and Fine Gael TD John O’Mahony said yesterday.

He pointed out that he had raised the issue in the Dáil at the same time he questioned the Sports Minister on the future of the government grants to inter-county players and that he intended to do so again — in the context of amateur players and particularly GAA players being unfairly vilified in media reports.

“On the face of it, this seems an innocent breach and I don’t want to pre-empt any hearings or anything else. But, if he or any other player fills out the relevant forms and then because they take an inhaler or something and it shows up positively in a test, why in the name of God couldn’t the hearing not have been heard before it got into the public domain. Not only is their sporting career tarnished but their job career is tarnished.”