Former light-welterweight world champion boxer Amir Khan has been handed a two-year ban from all sport after testing positive for a prohibited substance.
UK Anti-Doping said the 36-year-old returned a positive result for the anabolic agent ostarine following his sixth-round technical knock-out loss to Kell Brook in Manchester in February 2022.
Khan, who announced his retirement in May last year, accepted a violation of anti-doping rules but said he had not intentionally ingested the substance, an argument accepted by an independent panel following a hearing in January this year.
Reacting to the verdict, Khan said on Sky News that he would “never cheat” and reiterated that he did not know how the substance, which is designed to promote muscle building, had entered his system. “I’ve never cheated,” Khan said. “I’m a retired fighter.