Langton Nyakwenda, Harare Bureau
IT has been a whirlwind year for Aliyah Phiri, one of Zimbabwe’s fastest-rising boxers.
This time last year, the lightweight boxer was fine-tuning himself ahead of a landmark African Boxing Union championship fight against Israel Kamwamba of Malawi.
The fight was staged at the 7 Arts Theatre in Avondale, Harare on December 8.
It lasted only two rounds as a powerful Phiri won by a TKO to become the latest Zimbabwean to hold the African Boxing Union belt.
Fast forward 11 months, Phiri is back in the gym, but this time on a different mission.
He is desperate for a comeback after his career took a nasty knock early last week.
The 24-year-old is embroiled in a doping saga and has been suspended until March 2025, after testing positive for the prohibited Furosemide.
Furosemide is a prohibited substance under section S1.1 of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
According to WADA the substance is a performance enhancer and can also be used to mask other banned substances.
Phiri has also been stripped of his ABU title while his last defence against Saidi Mkola in March has also been declared a non-contest.
“Issa Aliyah Phiri has accepted the charges related to the ADRV and acknowledges the consequences of his actions.
“Consequently, he will serve a period of ineligibility of two (2) years, retroactively effective from 22 March 2024 to 21 March 2026,” wrote the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee.
They further explained the nature of the boxer’s ban.
“This period includes disqualification of all results obtained since 22 March 2024, along with all resulting consequences.
“However, having accepted the consequences by 21 October 2024, Phiri’s period of ineligibility has been reduced by one year.”
Effectively, Phiri’s ban runs from March 2024 to March 2025.
But, the effects on his record have been devastating.
Phiri is now a one-and-a-half-star boxer, down from a three-star rating.
His ban was confirmed by the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee last Monday following the outcome of a doping test conducted during his match against Mkola.
Phiri, whose camp claim that the boxer used the substance as a treatment for high blood pressure, is still digesting the development.
But his camp has declared that the boxer will be ready for a “massive comeback” post-March 2025.
Speaking to the press for the first time since the ban was announced, Aliyah’s manager and brother, Ali Phiri, told Zimpapers Sports Hub the boxer was determined to come back “fresh, ready and clean.”
Ali Phiri also apologized to the boxer’s fans, before urging the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee to conduct anti-doping awareness workshops, to conscientise professional sportsmen.
“As a club we are apologizing to the fans, we are apologizing to Zimbabwe for what happened to Aliyah.
“We don’t have an excuse, no.
“We admit we were very wrong and we saw the consequences,” Ali Phiri said.
“It has really affected us as a club since Aliyah is one of the rising boxers in the country.
“But we have nothing to do because it’s a doping rule and we fall under these rules,” added Phiri.
The boxer is not the only sportsperson from Zimbabwe to be banned for doping.
Former national soccer team player Devon Chafa was banned by Fifa for six months in October 2013, after testing positive for prednisone, which is a banned substance.
Early this year, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) also found para athlete Clement Nyoni guilty of also committing an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV), when he also tested positive for prednisone.
Consequently, there have been growing calls for local authorities to raise awareness on anti-doping amongst Zimbabwean professional athletes.
“The authorities should conduct free worships for all sports disciplines, so that any sports person who reaches the top level knows what to take in and what not to take in, so that he or she is not affected,” says Ali Phiri.
“Our boxer Phiri is a good example to other athletes, what has happened to him should be an eye opener to other sports people,” added Ali Phiri.
The renowned trainer is, however, confident his brother will come back stronger.
“Aliyah is getting back in April, he is working hard in the gym,” he revealed.
“We are also promising that by next year April we can host a tournament that takes him back to the position he was before all this.”
Ali Phiri also explained the circumstances that forced Aliyah to use a prohibited substance.
“He had a high Blood Pressure problem ahead of the fight against Mkola in March, so he took medication which we didn’t know wasn’t allowed by anti-doping authorities.
“After he was tested that is when we were told were told this medication is not allowed.
“It’s sad we reach this stage of a professional career without knowing all these doping rules and which drugs not to use,” revealed Ali Phiri.
