Champion pigeon racer Eamon Kelly given a life ban after being unmasked as a cheat whose ‘winning’ bird never left home

ONE of the biggest names in pigeon racing has been given a lifetime ban after he was exposed as a cheat on the front page of The Sun.

Multiple champion Eamon Kelly, 52, has been kicked out of the sport following allegations he resorted to fowl play to win the Tarbes Grand National, dubbed the pigeon world’s Grand National.

Kelly had won the Tarbes Grand National in 2015 and was also an official race controller for the National Flying Club.

Before the scam was rumbled he was due to receive £1,500 in prize money and a £10,000 Ford Fiesta, for successfully defending his title.

To make sure he retained his prized crown, he registered 14 birds for the race, then kept them in his loft while sending another set out to France on a lorry with 2,200 other pigeons.

Then as the second set flapped their way across the Channel, he calculated a likely winning time, took a bird from his loft and registered its “return” using a microchipped tag on its body.

The National Flying Club said Kelly, from Didcot, Oxfordshire, admitted to senior members that he cheated.

A statement released by the association has confirmed Kelly's permanent expulsion from future competitions.

It said: "This follows the falsification of race entry for Tarbes Grand National race dated 19 July 2016.

"Mr E Kelly admitted [cheating] in telephone conversations with the president, chairman and secretary of the National Flying Club after the falsification was confirmed."

When Kelly’s cheat was exposed, it sent shockwaves through the pigeon racing community.

His main rival, who he beat to the title compared his antics to the doping scandal in athletics and branded him "no better than the Russians".

Furious Mickey Locke, 72, said: "It's tainted pigeon racing and is devastating."

Kelly started pigeon racing at the age of nine and had success for many years with partner Frank Lloyd, who passed away in 2008.

He has yet to comment on his expulsion, but when the scandal first broke he issued a grovelling apology to his fellow fanciers

In a statement posted online he said: "I, Eamon Kelly, sincerely apologise to all my friends and fanciers over my stupid actions relating to the recent Tarbes race.

"I was tempted and fell, a decision I will regret for the rest of my life.

"A sport that I love so much, that has given me untold pleasure and above all friendship I have thrown all away."

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