Irish boxer Michael O'Reilly has been banned for four years by Sport Ireland. A statement released today confirmed the news after the athlete submitted a positive test in August 2016.
The Irish Athletic Boxing Association and Sport Ireland said the ban will run up to and including 10 July 2020.
Sport Ireland and the Irish Athletic Boxing Association jointly confirm that the Irish Sport Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel has sanctioned Mr. Michael O'Reilly for the commission of an anti-doping rule violation. Mr. O'Reilly, an international level boxer who was part of the Irish boxing team for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, has received a period of ineligibility of 4 years for testing positive for methandienone. Mr. O'Reilly was tested on 11 July 2016. Mr. O'Reilly was notified of the positive test result on 4 August 2016 and he was provisionally suspended from 5 August 2016.
The middleweight boxer became the first Irish athlete to be sent home from the Games for failing a doping test in 2016 when he tested positive for methandienone. Today's statement confirmed that O'Reilly appealed the initial test and on 9 August 2016, the WADA accredited laboratory in Cologne confirmed the presence of methandienone in the 'B' Sample.
O'Reilly claimed he had taken a supplement, named as Falcon Labs Superdrive Testobooster Tech. However he did not disclose this at the time of testing and after testing an opened and unopened tub, 'the concentrations were not consistent with the timeline of events asserted by Mr. O'Reilly.' He did not accept the initial sanction and attended a hearing in December 2017.
Having considered the evidence and submissions as made, the Panel produced its detailed findings on sanction. The Panel concluded that Mr. O'Reilly had "not discharged the burden of proving that his admitted anti-doping rule violation was not intentional" and accordingly imposed a 4 year period of ineligibility on him as is required by the Irish Sports Council Anti-Doping Rules 2015 (the "Rules"). It was also not satisfied that Mr. O'Reilly's evidence disclosed any basis to reduce or eliminate that period. The Panel however was satisfied that Mr. O'Reilly's admission was a timely admission as understood by Article 10.7.2 the Rules and therefore concluded that it was appropriate to backdate the period of ineligibility to commence on 11 July 2016, being the date that the test was taken.
