HANGZHOU (Reuters): Afghan boxer Mohammad Khaibar Nooristani has been provisionally suspended at the Asian Games in Hangzhou after failing an anti-doping test, the International Testing Agency (ITA) said.
He is the first athlete at the Games to be announced as having failed a drugs test.
The 37-year-old, who had been set to compete in the men's 63.5-71kg category, has been informed of the case and provisionally suspended. He can request the analysis of the B-sample.
The ITA said in a statement on is website late on Thursday that he had returned an adverse analytical finding for prohibited substances "19-norandrosterone and clostebol metabolite 4-chloro-3α-hydroxy-androst-4-en-17-one".
"The sample was collected by the ITA at the Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 during an out-of-competition anti-doping control performed on 21 September 2023," it said.
The matter has been referred to the Anti-Doping Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport for adjudication under the OCA Anti-Doping Rules, the statement added.
Neither Nooristani nor the Afghan team could be reached for comment.
The Hangzhou Games organising committee and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Anti-doping officials from OCA had said Monday that all medallists, record breakers and a large number of other athletes would be asked to be tested. These athletes would be chosen based on "intelligence".
(Reporting by Martin Quin Pollard; Editing by Peter Rutherford )
