Chronology Of Gear Fiasco

August 1992 - The OCI team for the Barcelona Olympics is sponsored by Reebok for the first time as its long-term contract with Adidas ends after the 1988 Olympics. BLE athletes still wear their SUB4-sponsored uniforms in competition.

December 1994 - BLE sign a new sponsorship deal with Asics that will carry through to the Sydney Olympics. Asics will provide the gear to be worn by all BLE teams in international competitions and the deal is worth some £125,000. It also has a legally binding contract for Olympic competitions.

June 1996 - The OCI again unveil Reebok-sponsored competition uniforms for the upcoming Olympic Games in Atlanta.

August 1996 - The gear conflict first reaches the public domain when Sonia O'Sullivan is forced into an embarrassing strip in the stadium tunnel just minutes before her 5,000 metres final in Atlanta. She changes from the OCI's Reebok uniform (also her private sponsor at the time) into BLE's Asics uniform after an Atlanta official is notified of the situation. A war of words between the OCI and BLE follows.

Late 1998 - The OCI look to complete a new sponsorship deal ahead of the Sydney Olympics. Pat Hickey, the OCI president, approaches both Asics and the Minister for Sport with a view to clothing the official Olympic party - and heading off further trouble with the athletics body - but a deal fails to materialise.

May 1999 - The OCI announce details of their new sponsorship deal with Adidas. It encompasses the competition and casual sportswear for the entire Irish team and is revealed to be worth almost £600,000 to the OCI over the four-year Olympic cycle. It is also concluded on the understanding that track and field athletes will wear the Adidas gear.

June 1999 - A number of efforts to agree a compromise on the gear issue - including a meeting set up by the Irish Sport Council - once again break down.

June 1999 - BLE withdraw their athletics team from the European Youth Olympics in Denmark over the ongoing conflict with the OCI. The OCI were insisting that the athletes sign a contract to wear the Adidas gear but BLE responded by saying that if they did so then the athletes would risk suspension by the IAAF.

August 1999 - Patsy McGonigle is named as the athletics team manager for Sydney after being nominated by BLE and is reported to have signed an OCI contract.

August 1999 - At the IAAF Congress in Seville, general secretary Istvan Gyulai again insists that athletic federations retain primacy in all track and field issues in the Olympic programme. However, that does little to quell OCI claims that according to the Olympic charter, they alone have the authority to decide the type of clothing athletes may or may not wear.

March 2000 - The OCI start to send out the first contracts to athletes with qualifying times for Sydney, which includes the obligation to wear Adidas gear.