Tyson Fury cleared to set up Anthony Joshua fight after accepting backdated two-year drugs ban

The path has been cleared for a Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua mega-fight after the former world heavyweight champion controversially escaped a career-threatening drugs ban.

Fury accepted a backdated two-year suspension, which expired at midnight, almost three years after testing positive for a banned steroid in one of the longest-running and most complex doping inquiries seen in the UK.

The 29-year-old, who has not fought since becoming world champion in November 2015 by beating Wladimir Klitschko in one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight history, wasted no time in calling out the current WBA, IBF and IBO belt holder, Joshua, posting on Twitter, “where you at boy? I'm coming for you punk ent no1 blocking my path now!”

Fury celebrated the most convenient of sanctions - one that saw him disqualified from his February 2015 win over Christian Hammer but crucially not from his career-defining triumph over Klitschko nine months later - as UK Anti-Doping announced an inquest into its botched handling of a case that could have seen the boxer banned for four years.

Ukad was forced to strike a deal with Fury and his cousin Hughie, who stood accused of the same offence, after what chief executive Nicole Sapstead admitted had been its “failure” to inform the fighters they could face action until charging them 16 months after nandrolone was discovered in their urine.

That also allowed Fury to escape further action for refusing to take a test in September last year, something he argued he only did because of Ukad’s previous attitude towards him during what was the height of a battle he waged against depression and cocaine abuse.

“It was probably a failure on our part,” Sapstead said on Tuesday.

“When we run a review of this case, that will probably be something that emerges out of it.”

Sapstead defended the time it took to issue charges, saying it was impossible to prove the nandrolone in the Furys’ urine was not naturally occurring after the samples were originally taken and that additional scientific research was sought to establish whether they should be prosecuted.

But the agency’s failure to keep the Furys informed meant the matter remained under investigation. Interviewing them about their February 2015 tests had allowed the boxers - who blamed their elevated nandrolone levels on eating uncastrated wild boar - to legitimately argue Ukad had prejudiced the case against them.

Fury is also one of the richest sportsmen the agency has ever tried to ban and it emerged last month it could effectively be bankrupted if it did not win its long-running legal battle and were subsequently sued for millions in lost earnings.

But Sapstead denied Ukad had backed down because the case had got too expensive for an organisation with a budget of only about £8 million.

“Yes, one of the elements does have to be the money side of things,” she said.

“That was not the sole reason we got to where we got to today - absolutely not. We would’ve fought this to the nth degree.”

Despite accepting backdated bans amid what was a hearing that began on Monday, the Furys both maintained their innocence.

Fury, who vacated his world titles in October last year, said: “I’m a fighting man through and through and I’ve never backed down from anyone in my life and I was certainly not going to back down from fighting this dispute.

“Hughie and I have maintained our innocence from day one and we’re now happy that it has finally been settled with Ukad and that we can move forward knowing that we’ll not be labelled drug cheats.

“I can now put the nightmare of the last two years behind me, which has been particularly hard on my family.

“Next year, I will be back doing what I do best, better than ever and ready to reclaim the world titles, which are rightfully mine. It’s time to get the party started #themacisback.”