Boxing: Britain's Muhammad Ali handed two year ban for positive test

[February 06, 2018]  LONDON (Reuters) - British Olympic boxer Muhammad Ali has been banned for two years after testing positive for a banned steroid, the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) said on Tuesday.

The 21-year-old, who competed as a flyweight at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, failed a dope test at a World Series Boxing match between Morocco Atlas Lions and British Lionhearts in Casablanca last April.

He was provisionally suspended from all international and domestic competitions last October.

AIBA said in a statement on its website that it had imposed the ban after reaching a "settlement agreement" on the case, without giving details.

GB Boxing noted the decision and said AIBA had also expressed an opinion "that the athlete did not take the prohibited substances with the intention to cheat."

Muhammad Ali (GBR) of Britain and Yoel Finol (VEN) of Venezuela compete. REUTERS/Peter Cziborra

The boxer told the BBC the length of the ban was "extreme" but he had to accept it and move on, with the aim of competing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge)

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