British boxer Amir Khan has been banned for two years after an anti-doping test revealed the presence of a banned substance following his fight against Kell Brook in February 2022.
The former light-welterweight world champion tested positive for ostarine.
Khan, who retired from boxing in May, accepted he broke anti-doping rules but said it was not intentional.
An independent tribunal accepted that argument, ruling out “deliberate or reckless conduct” by the 36-year-old.
“I’ve never cheated,” Khan told Sky Sports News. “But I’ve got a two-year ban now, which is quite strange and funny because I’m already retired anyway.
“There’s no comeback planned at all. But I’ve never cheated and I never will. That’s just not something I would do.”
Khan says he has “no idea” how the banned substance ended up in his system.
“I have to take some sort of responsibility. End of the day it’s been found in my system. I can honestly say this is something I would never ever do [cheating].
“It was such a tiny amount, it was no benefit at all. I should have maybe taken more precautions.
“I don’t want to remembered for something like this,” he said. “That’ll hurt me.”
The UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) website states ostarine is a drug designed to have similar effects to testosterone.
Khan tested positive for the drug in a Ukad test taken on 19 February 2022, the night he lost to Brook.
Ukad says it informed Khan, the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) on 6 April 2022 of a potential four-year ban. Brook and event promoters Boxxer were not told.
Khan accepted two doping violations but insisted he was innocent of “intentional doping”, which led to the case being referred to the National Anti-Doping Panel.
The case was not heard by an independent tribunal until 24 January 2023, with a written decision handed down on 21 February.
In the meantime, Khan announced his retirement from boxing on 13 May 2022, just three months after his loss to Brook and less than a month after he was told of his positive test.
Ukad rejected Khan’s defence that the ostarine was transmitted by a tainted supplement or human contact, but did decide the dose was too small to be intentional or give any performance advantage.
The ban from all sport runs from 6 April 2022 until 5 April 2024.
