Amir Khan banned from all sport for two years
Amir Khan has been handed a two-year ban from all sport after testing positive for a prohibited substance.
The former light-welterweight world champion returned a positive result for the anabolic agent ostarine after his loss to Kell Brook in Manchester last February.
The 36-year-old, who announced his retirement in May last year, accepted a violation of anti-doping rules despite remaining insistent that he had not intentionally ingested the substance, an argument accepted by an independent panel following a hearing in January.
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A UKAD statement said: “Mr Khan’s two-year ban is deemed to have commenced on April 6 2022 (the date his provisional suspension was imposed) and will expire on April 5 2024.”
The 2004 Olympic silver medallist has also recently opened up on last year's gunpoint robbery of his £70,000 diamond-encrusted watch.
He feared his 'kids would grow up without their dad' as he and his wife, Faryal Makhdoom, 31, left the Sahara Grill restaurant in Leyton, east London, on 18 April 2022.
A trial at east London’s Snaresbrook Crown Court heard how Khan was forced to hand over his Franck Muller watch, worth between £60,000 to £70,000, to gunman Dante Campbell, 20.
In an interview with the Sun on Sunday, Khan said: “In that moment, you think the worst … that the kids could be growing up without their dad, that Faryal would be raising them on her own.
“Your life flashes before your eyes. I leant my head to the right because I thought, if he is going to shoot me, he can shoot the side of my head. I don’t want to see the bullet coming.
“It was the first time I’ve ever seen a gun in my life. I could see down the barrel.
“I remember looking back seeing where my wife was. She ran back on the road and screamed ‘help!’
“At the time, I didn’t know what he wanted. I thought maybe this is a prank. I just took off the watch, he grabbed it.”
He added: “People said after, ‘You should’ve fought them’. Are they stupid?
“I’ve got a family. It’s only a watch. My life means more to me.
“When you have kids, you have a priority to make sure they are looked after. I am the breadwinner for the family. If I was with the kids, I don’t know what I would’ve done. Maybe I would have panicked and tried to run.”
Gunman Campbell, of Hornsey, and getaway driver Ahmed Bana, 25, of Tottenham, both admitted conspiracy to commit robbery and possession of an imitation firearm during a trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
They will be sentenced on a date to be fixed.
Anish Vij