Cian O'Connor yesterday denied interfering with the selection process for the Irish showjumping team, despite claims over the last couple of days that he had threatened to withdraw if Army rider Capt Shane Carey was not on the team.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio's Five Seven Live, O'Connor declared he had "absolutely not" interfered in the selection of the Aga Khan team and he had "definitely not" said he would withdraw from the team if Carey was not included.
"It's not up to the riders to pick the team, it's up to the chef d'équipe," he said.
O'Connor's assertion has shocked riders' representative Tom Slattery, who resigned from the Show Jumping Association of Ireland's international affairs committee on Sunday night over the Aga Khan row.
"I can't believe he said that," Slattery told The Irish Times last night. "Now he's calling me a liar." Slattery went on to say that he had heard O'Connor say twice to chef d'équipe Eamonn Rice that he would not jump on the team if Carey was not part of it.
Mr Rice, who presented a report on the controversial selection to the international affairs committee on Sunday night, claimed that he could not remember O'Connor stating he would not jump.
Liam Buckley, who also walked out of Sunday's meeting in protest at what he termed "discrepancies" in Rice's report, backed Slattery's stance last night.
"Tom told me he said it and I believe Tom," he said. Mr Rice issued a personal statement yesterday declaring: "The selection I made for the Aga Khan team at Dublin announced by me on Thursday night, August 4th, and given to the media, was the team that subsequently jumped on Friday. I made no changes after my final selection."
Mr Rice stated that he had selected riders who had complied with his instructions to compete in specified events.
"I also had to deal with the unprecedented situation of a direct threat being made to an Irish team member," the statement continued.
He made no comment on whether or not O'Connor had threatened to pull out of the team and was not available when contacted by The Irish Times yesterday.
A statement from the Larkin brothers, owners of Harry Marshall's horse Ado Annie, which was dropped from Friday's Aga Khan Cup, declared that no threats were made to O'Connor, "just heated conversation".
Equestrian Federation of Ireland president Avril Doyle yesterday called for the riders to put aside their differences.
"Let's get on with Aachen and concentrate our energies on what's actually important now," Ms Doyle said .