Irish cyclist Ciaran Kelly has received a four year ban from the Irish Sports Council after testing positive for the banned substance clenbuterol.
Kelly provided a urine sample in April 2014 during an amateur event, which tested positive for the substance.
The Irish Sports Council announced the ban in a joint statement with Cycling Ireland.
The statement read: “Ciaran Kelly has been sanctioned by a period of ineligibility of 4 years commencing on the 27th July 2015, the date of the decision.
“In a competition test carried out on 20th April 2014, he provided a sample which tested positive for the presence of a prohibited substance, Clenbuterol.”
The punishment for such an offence is normally two years, but Kelly’s punishment was increased to four years because he “failed to respect the provisional suspension imposed by Cycling Ireland”.
The statement also said: “Aggravating circumstances are present in this case which justify the imposition of a period of ineligibility greater than the standard sanction of 2 years, and that the period of ineligibility otherwise applicable should be increased up to the maximum period of 4 years”.
After the positive test, Kelly had suggested that the positive result was as a result of eating contaminated meat from a local butcher.
Clenbuterol is prescribed under a variety of names as a decongestant to aid asthma sufferers, but is known to be used as a weight-loss drug. It is banned by the International Olympic Committee.