Carlow’s Ray Walker has admitted he’s the footballer who recently failed a drugs test.
The 35-year-old O’Hanrahan’s man denies deliberately taking any banned substances and says he doesn’t know why.
But he says he was taking some anti-inflamatories at the time of the test.
He tested positive for meldonium in an out of competition drug test in February.
Ray says he won’t be contesting the four-year ban because at the age of 35 he feels it’s better to end his career and draw a line under theepisode.
Here’s Ray’s statement which KCLR recieved this evening:
My Name is Ray Walker. I am 35 years-old and returned to the Carlow senior football panel last November following a long absence. I am the player who is at the centre of recent reports about an anti-doping violation.
In light of the 4-year ban which I now have to serve, which ends my inter-county career, and most likely my club involvement given my age, I want to put the following on the record.
I did not intentionally take any banned substance. Anything that was found in my system was there completely unintentionally. I cannot explain for sure how the substance came to be in my system but I was taking anti-inflammatories for a lower stomach issue around the time of the test.
I am accepting the 4-year ban because I want this episode over and done with and, at 35, even a lesser ban would still mean I was unlikely to ever return to playing. It is not an admission of intentional wrong doing on my part in any way.
Finally, from the time that I re-joined the Carlow panel in November to the time the test took place in February, I did not receive any anti-doping training or education.
I will be making no further comment on this matter and would appreciate that the media would respect my privacy in this regard.
