There were several hundred people in the Teatro Bradesco theatre in Rio for the boxing draw on Thursday. Coaches, managers and media gathered in the small auditorium as officials on the stage called out names and countries.

From Russia’s point of view, their inclusion was a minor miracle as their boxing governing body had sanctioned its boxers to take part in the Rio Games despite the grim revelation by the World Anti Doping Agency of a state-sponsored policy of doping their athletes.

But as the names of the competing countries and weight divisions were read out, news filtered into the building that Michael O’Reilly, the 23-year-old Irish boxer had failed a dope test with his ‘A’ sample.

He can request to have his ‘B’ sample tested, although in the vast majority of cases the ‘B’ sample confirms what the ‘A’ sample has found.

And with that, O’Reilly was temporarily out of the Games. The first doping scandal had hit Rio and it was Ireland, not Russia, caught in the global gaze.

Calamity

In a statement, the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) confirmed without naming the athlete that the test was not conducted at the Rio Olympic Games. It was an unnecessary point given that the Games have not yet begun, with the opening ceremony due to take place tonight at The Maracana Stadium.

Within a few hours of the news breaking, the Irish Olympic movement was already distancing itself from what it will see as a calamity.

The coaches Zaur Antia, Eddie Bolger and John Conlan, the father of world champion Michael, were in the Teatro Bradesco but didn’t, at the outset, appear to know anything of the adverse finding.

At the end of the draw they declined requests for interview, slipped onto a bus and left. News had reached them too.

What they probably gauged from the posse of journalists and cameras that swirled around the bus was that the Russians had got away with it but, almost on the eve of Rio’s opening night, Irish boxing had been cast into the lead role as villain of the first major scandal.

The coaches would also have known that, despite O’Reilly’s obvious talents, he has had some discipline issues.

The Irish middleweight won the gold medal at the inaugural Baku European Games in 2015, beating a cast of toughened European performers, and for Rio he was seeded third in the draw, a position that would have put him in contention for a medal.

But last year O’Reilly was sanctioned by the IABA for an incident in Turkey, having failed to initially qualify for Rio at a tournament in Samsung.

He and another boxer, Dean Walsh, a nephew of former Irish head coach and current USA women’s coach, Billy Walsh, were each fined €5,000 and sent home following a breach of team protocol during the competition, where neither boxer had qualified.

It is believed the sanctions were related to their conduct after they were eliminated.

O’Reilly subsequently qualified for Rio in Baku.

As an 18-year-old boxer, O’Reilly won a High Court challenge against a decision to drop him from the panel for the European Youth Championships, which were taking place in Dublin in 2011.

Sanction

He claimed he had been unfairly dropped from the panel after an alleged act of indiscipline.

The teenager claimed during the hearing that the reason he had left the training camp and drew the sanction was to have his car repaired after it was damaged when he allowed a younger boxer to drive it in a car park. Mr Justice John Cooke said the officer board of the IABA had arguably acted beyond its powers in deciding to remove him.

For now, there is more heat than light. It is unknown whether he has decided to ask for the ‘B’ sample to be tested. He may also appeal the provisional suspension. It is also unknown whether the adverse finding was for a recreational substance or a PED, a performance enhancing drug, a hugely important distinction in the decision-making process.

If either is confirmed and a result for a ‘B’ sample can be known within 48 hours, his participation in Rio will be in serious jeopardy.

O’Reilly was given a bye into the second round, with his first fight due to take place on August 12th against the winner of Mexico’s Uziel Rodriguez and Iraq’s Waheed Karaawi.

That had put him just one round away from the Olympic quarter-finals, with a win there giving him a medal bout.

Last night, some hours after the story, O’Reilly tweeted.“Box on the 12th in the last 16 against the winner of Mexico or Iraq . . .”

That is an optimism Irish boxing and the Rio Olympics would dearly love to share.