Michael O’Reilly is set to appeal his failed drugs test.
The Portlaoise middleweight will bypass the ‘B’ sample testing process and move directly to appeal after it emerged that he had tested positive for a banned substance in the days leading up to Rio 2016.
According to Vincent Hogan of the Irish Independent, the case will be heard by the Irish Sports Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel and the grounds for such an appeal can be anything from a defence of unknowingly consuming a substance that had been contaminated to establishing proof that there was “no fault or negligence” on his behalf.
Defiant Michael O'Reilly vows to fight on at #Rio2016 https://t.co/wUE91yLoNl
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 4, 2016
O’Reilly received a bye to the last 16 at the Rio 2016 boxing draw, where he was scheduled to face off next Friday with the winner of Rodríguez (Mexico) vs Abdul-Ridha (Iraq) in the 75 kg division.
The Irish Athletic Boxing Association released a statement on Thursday which revealed that they had provisionally suspended O’Reilly and it’s being reported that he’s being kept apart from Team Ireland’s other boxers for the time-being.
