Irish Olympic boxers Michael Conlan and Steven Donnelly have been hit with severe reprimands for breaking IOC rules around betting on the Olympic games.
Steven Donnelly bet against his opponent last-16 opponent Tuvshinbat Byamba, whom he actually went on to beat. According to the Independent, Donnelly said that he made the bet without the intention to cheat – rather to compensate himself if he ended up losing.
Conlan, who lost his fight with Vladimir Nikitin under very controversial circumstances, did not bet on or against himself – but did bet on two fights in his weight class as part of an accumulator.
All the bets investigated by the IOC were lost, so neither man actually ended up making money from the bets.
The pair will now have to follow the educational programme set out for them by the IOC in order to be eligible for the next Olympic games which will be held four years from now in Tokyo.
According to the Independent, Michael Conlan has expressed his regret for the offence and has said that he intends to educate his fellow athletes through his experience.
The ruling is unlikely to impact Conlan, who signed his first professional contract last week with Top Rank – putting him on the same roster as Manny Pacquiao.
