The chairman of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) judicial committee, who will be hearing the doping case against Olympic gold medallist Cian O'Connor, has put forward two controversial proposals to the international governing body's new medication taskforce.
Mr Ken Lalo has suggested that riders should be immediately suspended if banned substances found in an equine A sample have a high potential to enhance performance.
"I have put recommendations to the taskforce that, if the substance used has a high potential to enhance performance then there would be immediate suspension after the A sample analysis," Mr Lalo told The Irish Times.
"If it is accepted, the FEI and the judicial committee would have to provide an immediate hearing for arguments against suspension within one or two days.
"Regarding all other drugs, I have suggested suspension after an agreed period of time, say 30 days after the B analysis, which would force the attorney to advance the case as soon as possible and before the automatic suspension comes into play."
Mr Lalo's suggestions are to form part of a proposal that will be put before the FEI general assembly, which gets underway in London on April 6th. The aim is to speed up the judicial procedure for hearing doping cases but, as yet, there is still no confirmed date for the Cian O'Connor hearing.
Mr Lalo said it could be late March before the Irish case comes up. The two dates recently proposed by the FEI - February 21st and 25th - have both been ruled out by O'Connor's solicitor Mr Andrew Coonan due to the unavailability of senior counsel Mr Michael Collins.
"It's now looking like it will be late March," Mr Lalo said. "If they continue to raise arguments about alternative dates in March, we would insist on a February date, but if we get consent on a March date then we'll go with that."
Mr Coonan is emphatic that he and his client are equally keen to get the case heard. "There is no benefit to us in the matter being delayed," he said. "There is always a logistical difficulty in organising a hearing of this nature. We furnished the FEI with a list of suggested dates which we hoped might be suitable, but unfortunately we haven't yet had any written response to that."