SPORT IRELAND AND the Irish Athletic Boxing Association have confirmed that a four-month suspension has been handed down to amateur boxing champion Evan Metcalfe.

The ban relates to the presence of a banned substance — tetrahydrocannabinol — in a sample provided by Metcalfe in an in-competition test on 24 February, after the 25-year-old Dubliner won the 56kg title at the National Elite finals.

In addition to the period of ineligibility to compete, which began on 19 April, Metcalfe has been stripped of the title he claimed by defeating Thomas McCarthy at the National Stadium.

At a hearing which took place on 29 May, Metcalfe explained that he unknowingly ingested cannabis after being offered what he thought was a cigarette at a party in a friend’s house on 21 February.

An Irish Sport Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel accepted Metcalfe’s evidence and his assertion that the substance was taken neither to enhance his sporting performance nor mask the use of a performance-enhancer.

However, the Panel was of the belief that Metcalfe wasn’t entirely without fault, as it is an athlete’s “personal duty” to be responsible for any substance that may be present in a sample.

Metcalfe has appealed the decision but an appeal hearing has yet to take place.

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