16 March 2020

Farmer alleges he lied about provision of wild boar to Team Fury

A Lancashire farmer says he lied about the provision of wild boar to Tyson and Hughie Fury, which the boxers contended was one of two possible sources of nandrolone in samples collected from them in February 2015. Martin Carefoot told the Mail on Sunday that a friend asked if he could help out by writing a letter stating that he had supplied uncastrated wild boar to Team Fury. He told the newspaper that he has never kept wild boar.

Carefoot says that he maintained the lie when contacted by Morgan Sports Law, which had been contracted to defend the Furys after they were charged by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) on 24 June 2016, because he had been promised £25,000. The Mail on Sunday doesn’t clarify whether Carefoot’s friend or Team Fury made the offer to pay him. 

Carefoot provided two written statements to Morgan Sport Law claiming he had provided wild boar to Team Fury. He also provided photos of wild boar to the law firm, which he now says were taken at nearby Bowland Wild Boar Park in Chipping. 

Nandrolone metabolites can naturally occur in certain meats. A scientific study published in 2000 found that consumption of wild boar can result in nandrolone metabolites being detected in urine.

There is no suggestion that either Tyson Fury or Hughie Fury knew about the offer made to Carefoot, just as there is no suggestion that Morgan Sports Law knew that the farmer was lying. ‘Judging by the emails, the firm was diligent in trying to ascertain whether Mr Carefoot had indeed kept wild boar and supplied it to the Furys’, emphasises the Mail on Sunday. ‘By that point, however, Carefoot felt he was in too deep – and continued lying to Morgan Sports Law’.

Also, just because the Furys relied on their consumption of wild boar as one possible explanation for their AAFs doesn’t mean that they were lying about having consumed wild boar. When athletes return an AAF that they claim is inadvertent, analysis of food and supplements is often one of the first activities undertaken. It is entirely possible that the Furys had consumed wild boar, and a team member contacted Carefoot’s friend when struggling to prove a source for the wild boar.

Both Tyson and Hughie Fury argued that contaminated supplements may also have been the source of their AAFs. In a December 2017 compromise decision, Tyson and Hughie Fury were both sanctioned for an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) involving nandrolone, as a result of the February 2015 AAFs. A second test refusal charge against Tyson was withdrawn.

‘‎In recognition of the respective counter-arguments and the risks inherent in the dispute resolution process, each side has accepted a compromise of its position’, read a statement‘The proceedings have therefore been resolved on the following basis: the anti-doping rule violations based on the reported presence of elevated levels of nandrolone metabolites are upheld, the [test] refusal charge is withdrawn, Hughie and Tyson Fury each receive a two-year period of ineligibility, and their results from their respective fights in February 2015 are disqualified.’

‘The farmer making these outrageous allegations sent me a letter last October, full of errors and basically telling me he had committed perjury by signing statements under oath and lying’, read a statement from Frank Warren, who now represents Fury. ‘When I called him, he asked for money. I told him to clear off and get in contact with UKAD. He chose not to speak to UKAD but instead speak to a newspaper. How anybody can take this man seriously is beyond belief. Tyson has never met this man in his life. What a load of rubbish. We’ll leave this with UKAD to look into and don’t expect it to go any further.’

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