Fury cases cost UK Anti-Doping over £500,000

United Kingdom Anti-Doping (UKAD) has announced that the organisation paid almost £580,000 in legal fees during cases involving cousins Tyson and Hughie Fury, according to Sky Sports News.

Tyson and Hughie Fury tested positive nandrolone, a banned steroid, in February 2015.

However, UKAD failed to charge the pair until June 2016, after Tyson Fury had beaten Wladimir Klitschko to become undisputed world champion.

The Furys vehemently denied the charge, explaining the positive test was a consequence of eating wild boar that had not been castrated.

UKAD sough to impose t the four-year ban that nandrolone carries, while the Furys insisted they had done nothing wrong and should be cleared. A compromise was reached last December which let both men continue their careers.

At the time UKAD chief executive Nicole Sapstead said the organisation had “thrown an unprecedented amount of resources” at the cases and used “very eminent and successful lawyers”.

She said in December “the money element” was considered when agreeing the compromise, and UKAD said on Wednesday it had spent £577,717 on legal costs plus a further £7,942 on “laboratory analysis and associated services”.

UKAD was answering a Freedom of Information request, and published its reply on its website.