BERNARD DUNNE HAS strongly criticised disgraced boxer Michael O’Reilly, after the 23-year-old earlier admitted he unintentionally took a supplement that may have contained a banned substance.
O’Reilly will not contest his provisional suspension for failing a doping test, with former world bantamweight champion Dunne saying ‘he let the people of Ireland down.’
Speaking on RTÉ’s Olympic coverage earlier, Dunne had little sympathy for O’Reilly, who has now left the Athlete’s Village with the Olympic Council of Ireland preparing to send him home.
“He’s let the people of Ireland down, but more than anybody he’s let himself down and he’s that one that’s going to have to live with that for the rest of his life,” he said.
“He’s dreamt about fighting the Olympic Games all his boxing life and that’s been taken away with just one little mistake that he has made.”
In a statement released this evening, the Irish Amateur Boxing Association acknowledged O’Reilly’s admission earlier in the day and expressed its disappointment at the situation.
“We are very disappointed that Michael may have taken any supplement without consulting the IABA High Performance Support Team,” the statement read.
“Educating athletes of the risks proposed by supplements is provided to all our boxers as part of the High Performance Programme.
“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.”
Dunne also questioned why O’Reilly, who was considered as a strong medal contender, would take a supplement that wasn’t given to him, or approved, by the IABA.
“He has full access to everything within the national set-up,” Dunne continued.
“He’s got the best doctors, the best nutritionists, the best coaches. Why is he buying something over-the-counter somewhere? It doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t make sense whatsoever.
“He’s ruined his dreams of fighting in the Olympic Games. Unless you’re getting something off your national body, he shouldn’t be taking it.
“It’s unbelievable, how he could take something outside of his camp. How he could get something basically out of a car boot sale is beyond me.
“Why is he not asking advice from the people in the know? He’s on the national team, he’s a carded athlete, he’s a sponsored athlete, he’s supplied with all these things. Why is he going outside of that to get stuff?
“He had done the hard part in qualifying and post-qualification he goes and probably makes the most idiotic decision he’s ever made. As a high-performance athlete you’re fully responsible for anything that’s in your system. It doesn’t matter where he got the stuff.
“It’s damaged us, without a doubt, we’ve had a clean slate, we had a great reputation, we’ve been producing medals,” he said. “We’re [boxing] Ireland’s most successful sport in the Olympic Games and something like this has just thrown question marks over anything that’s achieved in these games.
“We are always going to reference back to this drug issue or whatever it is that is in his system.”
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