‘Who leaked the SI report?’

EAMONN Fitzmaurice has questioned why the investigation into Brendan O’Sullivan’s anti-doping violation took over 13 months to be completed, and has called on Sport Ireland to disclose who leaked details of the case to the media ahead of their final reasoned decision being published.

Speaking openly and honestly about a number of issues relating to the case, which broke last week, Fitzmaurice defended O’Sullivan, the team management and the Kerry County Board in their handling of the whole affair, but also conceded that O’Sullivan made serious mistakes with regard to buying the supplement at the centre of the failed test.

“As the manager of the team, my first concern is the welfare of Brendan O’Sullivan and also the welfare of every player that’s inside with us,” Fitzmaurice said.

“But that product that Brendan took was not prescribed in any way by us. He researched every ingredient on line, so he couldn’t have done any more, except the final, crucial step: ask the doctor. That was his mistake.”

Fitzmaurice confirmed that O’Sullivan is still with Kerry squad for the Championship and said the player was doing well.

What has annoyed the Kerry manager much, however, in this process has been the length of time it has taken to bring the whole matter to a conclusion, and in particular, the fact the on-going case was leaked to the media last week.

“(The leak is) a huge question. The how, why, and who leaked it to the Sunday Independent. Who leaked that report when it wasn’t finished? That’s a big question for me. We had a statement ready to go on this since last July, but it couldn’t be released until the process was fully complete. (And) because this is a very robust process, you are guilty until proven innocent.

“We have felt all along that neither Kerry or Brendan had anything to hide, there was a process there, and it took a lot longer than we anticipated it would.

“But my thing all along was that we having to sit on it for so long. Going back to May 12, 2016, to be still here over a year later, that’s been very frustrating. And then for it to come out in the manner it did after sitting on it for so long, and having a statement ready - just to press a button - to inform everything from the start. And there would have been transparency from the start. We were robbed of that by someone who leaked the report. So who leaked the report? That is a big question.”

Fitzmaurice also addressed an article in this newspaper last week in which he believed his comments relating to O’Sullivan’s absence last spring / summer were misrepresented.

“It was suggested I more or less lied around this time last year about him not being available because I said he was injured. Brendan was injured. (Now) that was convenient to me, I went back to check my notes, he had a hip injury, a minor groin tear, a minor quad tear. So he actually hadn’t resumed training with us.

“A lot of ye are dealing with me a long time and I have a lot of failings, but the one thing I will not do is lie. And I have never lied to the press at any stage about anything. I’d fudge a question or might not want to answer something, but I’ll never lie.

“When I was asked about him later on (in the season), he was almost recovered injury-wise, and I fudged (the answer). I said ‘Denis Daly, who had a health issue at the time, and Brendan O’Sullivan, aren’t available but I don’t want to chat about that. They won’t be available in the short to medium term’.

“I said something like that. I didn’t say he was injured at that time, he’d actually recovered, I want that to go on record today.

“(The article suggested) that reporters left the room last spring with the impression that he was injured. He was injured. I want to clarify that.”