A betting scandal has rocked the Irish Olympic team with allegations that a leading member backed an opponent to defeat him in an earlier competition.

The Irish Independent says it has possession of betting slip records from two leading Irish bookmakers that show that the competitor made $5,000 after backing his opponent to win out.

In documents in possession of the newspaper the competitor is seen to have made two separate bets on his opponent who he faced the day after the bets were made. He was subsequently defeated by the opponent who went on to win the gold medal in the competition.

The Irish athlete cashed the bets for $5,000.

The Irish athlete took part in the opening ceremonies and Ireland’s International Olympic Council (IOC) representative Patrick Hickey told the newspaper they were aware of the allegation.

Hickey told the Independent that they were told on legal advice "under the rules of natural justice” that they had to inform the athlete of the allegation and that they had received a detailed reply from the athlete’s lawyer.

The IOC has made clear that the “Fight agaist doping and illegal gambling remains the absolute priority of the IOC” according to IOC chief Jacques Rogge.

“This is fraught with legal issues,” Hickey told the newspaper, “and, right now, our priority is not to cause any unnecessary upset to the competitors.”