Kerry chairman Tim Murphy has explained the reasoning behind identifying Brendan O'Sullivan as the inter-county player who tested positive for a banned substance last year.

Last week, The Sunday Independent revealed that an inter-county footballer had failed a routine drugs test conducted by Sport Ireland, choosing not to identify the player in its article.

Kerry GAA would take the decision after the story was published by issuing a statement on their website and Murphy explained that the reason for doing so was to protect O'Sullivan.

"There's been a lot of commentary in various media outlets about the length of time, and who knew or who should have known, but I think to speculate is very wrong," Murphy told Radio Kerry on Saturday.

"I think there's a general acknowledgement that there is no such case that is really meant to go public until it has concluded, and that every athlete gets fair play and due process.

"Sport Ireland made it very clear that there is no defined time frame and that once the process starts, the length of time that it has taken wouldn't be unheard of by any means.

"From a Kerry county board perspective, our position is to protect the player, both Brendan and the other members of the panel at all times, and that's what we have done and we won't be apologising to anybody for it."

Tweet

Most Read Stories