A source within the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) told The Irish Times that the boxers were reprimanded for a breach of the Code of Ethics after gambling between July 24 and August 24.

It isn’t known at this stage if boxing is one of the sports involved or if the pair gambled on their own bouts.

"The OCI can confirm that two Irish boxers at Rio 2016 were spoken to about inappropriate betting activity during the Games," a statement released today by the OCI reads.

"The matter is still under review so there will be no further comment at this stage."

This is not the first time an Irish Olympian has been caught up in a betting controversy.

On the eve of the London 2012 Olympic Games, it emerged that sailor Peter O'Leary had placed two bets worth a total of €300 (£256/$336) on the British pair of Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson capturing the gold medal in the Star class at Beijing 2008 at odds of 12-1, and won €3,600 (£3,100/$4,000).

It was ruled by the IOC Ethics Commission that he should only be warned because his actions did not impact on the final result and that education about the dangers of betting was not as sophisticated as it was in 2012. 

The normal disciplinary procedure for a breach of the gambling code would be for the OCI to be notified through its President, Chef de Mission or secretary general.

The situation has been complicated though by the current turmoil within the OCI over an alleged ticketing scam.

OCI President Patrick Hickey is currently being held in connection with the case in the high security Bangu prison in west Rio de Janeiro.

On Thursday (August 25), Kevin Kilty, Ireland's Chef de Mission for Rio 2016, and OCI chief executive Stephen Martin each went to the Cidade da Policia headquarters alongside their lawyers and were subjected to around four-and-a-half hours of questions.

Each is no longer considered a suspect, police said afterwards, with a process having begun to return their passports and allow them to leave the country.

They are now in a similar position to OCI secretary general Dermot Henihan, who came in for questioning on Tuesday (August 23) but is still waiting to receive his passport.

Kilty and Martin reportedly told Brazilian police that all the decisions regarding ticketing were made by Hickey, who has denied any wrongdoing.

The 71-year-old, who was arrested in a televised dawn raid at the Windsor Marapendi Olympic Family Hotel, has stepped down from all of his sporting roles until the matter is "fully resolved".

Police have supposedly found emails dating back to 2010 between Hickey and Marcus Evans, head of ticketing company THG Sports, discussing Rio 2016 tickets.

THG were the Irish authorised ticket reseller (ATR) for London 2012 and Sochi 2014 but were not selected for Rio 2016, so had no rights to sell tickets.

It is alleged by Brazilian police, however, that Pro10 Sports Management, the Dublin-based company who were selected, were just a front operation to conceal THG's involvement.

Ireland was at the centre of several major boxing stories during Rio 2016 with middleweight Michael O’Reilly being withdrawn from the Games after admitting taking a banned drug.

Bantamweight Michael Conlan then claimed that amateur boxing “stinks from the core to the very top” after controversially losing his quarter-final against a battered and bruised Vladimir Niktin of Russia.