Monaghan’s Thomas Connolly The First GAA Player To Be Banned For Steroid Use

Monaghan footballer Thomas Connolly has been suspended for two years, after testing positive in doping tests conducted in February. The footballer was provisionally suspended by the GAA in March and the two year ban has been back-dated to this point. Connolly did not receive the standard four-year ban as the "anti-doping violation was not intentional". In a joint statement, the GAA and Irish Sports Council said: "The GAA and the Irish Sports Council jointly announce that the GAA Anti-Doping Hearings Committee determined that player Thomas Connolly has committed an anti-doping rule violation. "Thomas Connolly, a GAA player from Monaghan, has been sanctioned by a period of ineligibility of 2 years commencing on the 18th March 2015. This was a reduction from the standard period of 4 years' ineligibility because the GAA Anti-Doping Hearings Committee was of the view that the anti-doping rule violation was not intentional. "In an out of competition doping control test on the 13th February he provided a sample which tested positive for the presence of a prohibited substance, 3’-hydroxystanozolol glucuronide (Stanozolol)." This is the first case of its kind in GAA history, with the closest case having occured in 2008 when Aidan Mahoney failed a drugs test but was later cleared when the results were linked to the use of a Ventolin inhaler.