Strict Liability: Amir Khan failed a 2022 performance-enhancing drug test and currently serves a two-year ban

JUST when it appears British boxing has amassed all of the black eyes its face can deal with, it one way or the other finds room for an additional, with information this morning (April 4) of Amir Khan’s two-year ban for failing a efficiency enhancing drug test on February 19, 2022 coming as each a shock and a crushing disappointment.

We ought to know higher by now than to belief these athletes, however nonetheless, given each Khan’s efficiency towards Kell Brook that February night time (a lacklustre displaying which resulted in a sixth-round stoppage defeat) and his subsequent retirement, to listen to of him falling foul of the drug testers is most sudden.

That is exactly what Khan did, nevertheless. According to UK Anti-Doping (UKAD), a urine pattern collected from the Bolton fighter on February 19, 2022 returned an adversarial analytical discovering for ostarine, a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM). This substance, ostarine, is listed on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) 2022 Prohibited List as an anabolic agent and is prohibited in sport always.

When the adversarial discovering was returned, Khan was then notified about it on April 6, 2022, at which level he was issued with a provisional suspension from all Code-compliant sport.

On 20 July, 2022, in the meantime, UKAD charged Khan with the fee of two Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs): below ADR Article 2.1 (Presence of a Prohibited Substance); and ADR Article 2.2 (Use of a Prohibited Substance).

According to a UKAD assertion, Khan accepted these fees however maintained that his ingestion of ostarine was not “intentional” (a time period with a particular that means set out at ADR Article 10.2.3). As a consequence, his case was referred to the National Anti-Doping Panel to be thought of by an impartial tribunal.

This case was finally heard by the impartial tribunal on 24 January, 2023 and in its written determination, dated 21 February, 2023, the panel imposed a two-year ban on Khan, 34-6 (21). The panel additionally disqualified his consequence (TKO 6) from the bout towards Brook.

In phrases of the ban, Khan’s two-year suspension is deemed to have commenced on 6 April, 2022 (the date his Provisional Suspension was imposed) and will expire on 5 April, 2024, although the fighter himself introduced his retirement within the aftermath of that loss to Brook.

Speaking on the case, UKAD Chief Executive Jane Rumble mentioned: “This case serves as a reminder that UKAD will diligently pursue Anti-Doping Rule Violations to be able to defend clear sport.

“Strict liability means athletes are ultimately responsible for what they ingest and for the presence of any prohibited substances in a sample. It is important that all athletes and their support personnel, whatever level they are competing at, take their anti-doping responsibilities seriously. Not doing so risks damaging not only an athlete’s career, but also undermining public confidence in clean sport.”

It’s onerous to say which of these two concepts is the extra fanciful: the thought of the general public ever having confidence within the purity {of professional} boxers, or the concept that what we’re watching today is a clear sport.