Hibernian striker Garry O’ Connor (28) was in hiding last night after the 16 times capped Scottish striker was accused of failing a drugs test in 2009/10 while playing for Birmingham City in the Premier League.
And to add insult to injury it is alleged that O’Connor was also charged with fraud after his £100,000 Ferrari was mysteriously found crashed a few short miles from his home a few months ago.
Channel 4′s Dispatches programme which aired on Monday night claimed that the Scottish striker was secretly banned from playing after failing a drugs test during the 2009/10 Premier League season. Former Birmingham boss Alex McLeish said at the time of the alleged incident that his striker was set to miss three to four months due to injury before being farmed out on-loan to Barnsley who had no idea of the player’s alleged situation.
O’Connor moved back to Hibernian in June after spells with Lokomotiv Moscow, Birmingham and Barnsley, after leaving Easter Road in 2006 for £1.5m to Russian out-fit Lokomotiv Moscow before returning to Britain in 2007 after a season in Russia scoring 7 goals in 33 matches.
It’s the second programme to lift the lid on corruption in soccer after Bryan Robson was infiltrated in a scam to make money buying a Club in England using loopholes in the system.
