Michael O’Reilly will continue to fight to clear his name, though the Portlaoise middleweight has accepted that his chances of competing at Rio 2016 are over, SportsJOE understands.
Sources close to O’Reilly indicated that he is set to fly home from Brazil in order to fight his case through an appeal process, rather than request to have his ‘B’ sample tested, as was originally suggested.
A major development in the case occurred on Tuesday when O’Reilly released a statement in which he admitted to having unintentionally taken a supplement that may have contained a banned substance.
The 23-year-old tested positive for a prohibited substance last week, in a test he took prior to travelling to Rio, and he was provisionally suspended from competition.
O’Reilly has since admitted that he had been given a “supplement by someone unrelated to his team or association” and will no longer argue against that provisional ban.
He had received a bye to the last 16 of Rio 2016, where he was scheduled to fight the winner of Rodríguez (Mexico) vs Abdul-Ridha (Iraq) on Friday but O’Reilly was always going to be in a race against the clock to have his case heard in time.
In his statement, he apologised to those he may have let down and thanked “all those who have supported” him.
Update
The IABA released the below statement late on Tuesday in which they confirmed that O’Reilly would be returning to Ireland.
“The Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) has been notified that Michael O’Reilly will no longer be contesting his provisional suspension imposed on him on 4th August 2016.
“We acknowledge receipt of Michael’s statement today, Tuesday 9th August in which he admits that he unintentionally took a supplement that may have contained a prohibited substance. We note he has offered his sincere apology to his fellow team members, IABA, Sport Ireland and the Olympic Council of Ireland.
“We are very disappointed that Michael may have taken any supplement without consulting the IABA High Performance Support Team. Educating athletes of the risks proposed by supplements is provided to all our boxers as part of the High Performance Programme.
“We can confirm that Michael has now left the Olympic Village and will have no further involvement in the Rio Olympic Games. The Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) will be making arrangements for him to return to Ireland as soon as possible.
“The IABA is fully committed to the Irish Anti-Doping Rules. Michael’s adverse test result initiated a process as set out in those rules. This process remains underway and until it is completed we are not in a position to comment further.
“In the meantime, the remaining boxers, coaches and support staff at the Olympic Games in Rio are our primary focus. We are committed to providing them with all necessary support as they represent Ireland at the Olympics.”
