– Niall Kelly reports from Riocentro, Rio de Janeiro
JOHN CONLAN HIT back in his public spat with Irish boxing bosses and rubbished their version of events in the dispute over Michael O’Reilly’s training attendance.
Conlan raised eyebrows earlier this week when he revealed that O’Reilly, sent home from the Olympics for a failed drugs test, had been absent from the Irish set-up for eight weeks before flying out to Rio.
The Irish Amateur Boxing Association quickly challenged that claim and stated that O’Reilly had been with the team in Azerbaijan in June, and had also been dealing with injury and illness.
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“I have a calendar with every date that guy was in camp but I’m not going to talk about that,” Conlan insisted on Tuesday, moments after his son Michael was on the wrong end of a shocking decision.
“Let the IABA put whatever they want out but I was there in the camp. Bernard Dunne wasn’t there.
Ten days that guy was in the camp with me, that was it. 96 days to Rio, I seen him 16 days.
The IABA said that O’Reilly had trained at Portlaoise Boxing Club while recovering from a knuckle injury and the flu.
But Conlan added: “It was more than eight weeks. It was wrong.
Ask his coach where he was because any time a coach asked where he was, we got a sick note.
“If some boxer gives me a sick note, I can’t take a chance on him but that’s another story. We need to leave that one alone.”
In response, IABA CEO Fergal Carruth again countered Conlan’s timeline, but said the matter would be investigated during a full review of Ireland’s high performance programme which will take place after the Games.
“If you count down the days, Michael O’Reilly was in Azerbaijan from 2-26 June, and then he was in Rio with the Irish team from 19 July until he was sent home on 9 August,” Carruth said.
“The IABA will be conducting a review of not only the Olympic Games but also the previous four years within the High Performance Unit in order to put in place a plan going forward and also to put in all support necessary for the High Performance program to ensure success at the Tokyo Games.
“Any matters including attendance of our boxers within Irish training camps will be included in this review.”
'I've a calendar with every date he was in camp': John Conlan fights back in O'Reilly row
– Niall Kelly reports from Riocentro, Rio de Janeiro
JOHN CONLAN HIT back in his public spat with Irish boxing bosses and rubbished their version of events in the dispute over Michael O’Reilly’s training attendance.
Conlan raised eyebrows earlier this week when he revealed that O’Reilly, sent home from the Olympics for a failed drugs test, had been absent from the Irish set-up for eight weeks before flying out to Rio.
The Irish Amateur Boxing Association quickly challenged that claim and stated that O’Reilly had been with the team in Azerbaijan in June, and had also been dealing with injury and illness.
“I have a calendar with every date that guy was in camp but I’m not going to talk about that,” Conlan insisted on Tuesday, moments after his son Michael was on the wrong end of a shocking decision.
“Let the IABA put whatever they want out but I was there in the camp. Bernard Dunne wasn’t there.
The IABA said that O’Reilly had trained at Portlaoise Boxing Club while recovering from a knuckle injury and the flu.
But Conlan added: “It was more than eight weeks. It was wrong.
“If some boxer gives me a sick note, I can’t take a chance on him but that’s another story. We need to leave that one alone.”
In response, IABA CEO Fergal Carruth again countered Conlan’s timeline, but said the matter would be investigated during a full review of Ireland’s high performance programme which will take place after the Games.
“If you count down the days, Michael O’Reilly was in Azerbaijan from 2-26 June, and then he was in Rio with the Irish team from 19 July until he was sent home on 9 August,” Carruth said.
“The IABA will be conducting a review of not only the Olympic Games but also the previous four years within the High Performance Unit in order to put in place a plan going forward and also to put in all support necessary for the High Performance program to ensure success at the Tokyo Games.
“Any matters including attendance of our boxers within Irish training camps will be included in this review.”
‘We kind of embarrassed the AIBA at the start and maybe we’re being punished for that’
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John Conlan Michael O'Reilly Olympics Rio 2016 Where's Michael?