Promising Norwegian boxer Hadi Srour said Wednesday he has tested positive for the blood booster EPO, but would contest the finding that stops him from boxing at the upcoming world championships.
The 23-year-old light welterweight said he was waiting for the results of a second sample analysis from the agency Anti-Doping Norway.
He told reporters in Oslo he had ‘no idea’ how he had tested positive, noting that the substance could only be injected.
The test was based on a urine sample he gave July 15 after his short summer break when he attended a music festival, he said.
‘Thirty-three days later I was tested again in connection with a professional fight in Germany. I gave a urine and blood sample. Both were negative,’ he said.
Srour has a 4-0 record as a professional and is contracted to a division of Team Sauerland of Germany.
‘We have highly experienced investigators from the police who are objective in their role. They have no interests in this case,’ Britha Rokenes, attorney for Anti-Doping Norway said in a comment to news agency NTB in regard to Srour critcizing the organization.
The Norwegian Boxing Federation said Srour has been dropped from the upcoming world championships in Russia. He would have been the country's only representative at the September 7-21 event in Yekaterinburg.
But the federation backed Srour pending the results of the second sample, boxing president Odd Hektor Slake said.
The worlds would have offered Srour a shot at qualifying for next year's Olympics in Tokyo. Norway has not had a boxer at the Olympics since 1996.
