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British Olympian Muhammad Ali facing lengthy ban after testing positive for a steroid

The 21-year-old Yorkshireman has been provisionally suspended after failing a test in April.

BRITISH BOXER AND Rio Olympian Muhammad Ali is facing a prolonged spell out of the ring after testing positive for a steroid in April, Aiba has confirmed.

The governing body today revealed that the Yorkshire flyweight has been provisionally suspended since May after he tested positive during a World Series of Boxing (WSB) match between the British Lionhearts and Morocco Atlas Lions in Casablanca a month prior.

The 21-year-old is highly regarded as a prospect within British boxing, and reached last year’s Olympic Games where he contentiously bowed out to Venezuelan Yoel Finol in the first round. He won silver at both the 2014 World Youth Championships and the 2015 European Championships.

It’s understood that both his ‘A’ and ‘B’ samples contained trace amounts of a steroid.

Aiba has said it will not comment further until an Aiba anti-doping panel has heard Ali’s case. The date for such a hearing is as of yet unconfirmed.

In a statement, GB Boxing confirmed a member of its squad had tested positive for a banned substance, stating the boxer in question had been suspended from its programme, as well as all competition, pending the outcome of Ali’s eventual appearance before an anti-doping panel.

They added: “This is the first time that a member of the GB Boxing squad has tested positive for a banned substance.

“GB Boxing is committed to clean sport and we work in partnership with UK Anti-Doping and our international federation to provide extensive education and support to our boxers on anti-doping rules, the anti-doping obligations upon them as athletes and the importance of adhering to the principles of clean sport.”

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