UKAD issues statement on Tyson and Hughie Fury's drug test failure

The twisted saga of the Fury's and nandrolone continues.

Back in June, The Mirror put out an article where they stated that both heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury and his cousin Hughie had tested positive for nandrolone, a banned steroid. They said that this occurred in February and March of 2015, and the boxers met with UK Anti-Doping about it in September of 2015. At that time, UKAD said they wanted to investigate further according to the article.

Both Tyson and Hughie vehemently denied the charges at the time and continue to do so, with Tyson even going so far as to say he would sue UKAD over the allegation (via the BBC) yesterday.

This prompted UKAD to actually speak on record about the issue today. They confirm that both boxers were charged in June, but in a baffling move, they lifted their provisional suspensions today pending a hearing:

"In response to public comments made by Tyson and Hughie Furys' representatives, UK Anti-Doping can confirm that both boxers were charged on 24 June 2016 with presence of a Prohibited Substance. Mandatory Provisional Suspensions were imposed pursuant to Article 7.9.1 of the UK Anti-Doping Rules.

The UK Anti-Doping Rules allow athletes to challenge the imposition of a Provisional Suspension and the independent National Anti-Doping Panel (NADP) today lifted the athletes’ suspensions, pending full determination of the charges. These charges will be heard at a hearing before the NADP in due course.

UK Anti-Doping will not comment further on the case until due legal process has been completed."

Tyson Fury (25-0, 18 KO) defeated Wladimir Klitschko for a gaggle of world heavyweight titles in November by decision. He had been scheduled to rematch him on July 9th, but pulled out of the bout with an apparent ankle injury. Since it came on the same day that he was suspended by UKAD, you can probably determine that the injury was a smokescreen.

As the statement says, he will have to stand in front of a hearing to determine whether he will be suspended again or cleared of the charges. The rematch with Klitschko is scheduled to take place in October, and it's unclear how these charges will affect that matchup right now.