LONDON: Former light-welterweight world champion Amir Khan received a two-year ban from all kinds of sports after testing positive for a prohibited substance, UKAD (UK Anti-Doping) stated on Tuesday.
The 36 years old Amir Khan had a positive result for the anabolic agent ostarine following his defeat to Kell Brook in Manchester last year in February.
Ostarine is a drug having almost similar effects to testosterone and is mentioned on the prohibited list of the World Anti-Doping Agency as an anabolic agent and is prohibited in all sports at all times.
Amir Khan’s Retirement from Boxing
Amir Khan had announced his retirement in May 2022 year after his sixth-round stoppage defeat to fellow Briton Brook on February 19 of the same year, but he would not be able to return to the ring until April 2024.
Amir Khan accepted a violation of anti-doping rules however argued that he didn’t opt for intentionally ingesting the substance. The independent panel duly accepted this argument following a hearing in January.
Amir Khan’s ban began on April 6, 2022, and will expire on April 5, 2024.
Speaking about the verdict to Sky Sports News on Tuesday, Amir Khan argued that he had “never cheated.”
Khan said, “The amount that was in my body might be due to shaking peoples’ hands. I don’t know how it happened; however, I want to say that I have never cheated in my life.
He added that it was strange that he received the ban at a time when he had already announced his retirement with no intention of coming back into the ring. Khan became a household name in the United Kingdom after he grabbed a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics when he was just 17 years old.
The next year in July, Amir made his professional debut and four years later grabbed the WBA light-welterweight title with a victory against Andreas Kotelnik in Manchester.
Amir Khan unified the WBA and IBF titles while defeating Zab Judah in 2011 but controversially lost his subsequent fight to Lamont Peterson, who would later be tested positive for synthetic testosterone.
He got his retirement with a record of 34 wins and only six defeats from 40 bouts.
UKAD chief executive Jane Rumble said, “This case serves as an alert and a reminder to all that UKAD will diligently pursue anti-doping rule violations and secure in order to protect clean sport. “
