World heavyweight champion Tyson Fury's camp have told ESPN a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko is still going ahead in the fall, despite Fury facing alleged doping offences.
UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) agency revealed Wednesday night it had charged Fury and cousin Hughie, a heavyweight boxer, with using a banned substance on June 24 and that it had only just lifted a temporary suspension on the pair.
Fury's fate now hinges on the outcome of a National Anti-Doping Panel hearing, the date of which hasn't yet been confirmed. If he is found guilty of taking a banned substance, Fury could be stripped of his WBA and WBO titles and suspended, and a potential rematch with Klitschko in Manchester would also be scrapped.
A new date for a rematch has yet to be officially confirmed, though Fury's camp have claimed it will take place Oct. 29. Originally set for July 9, the rematch was postponed because Fury injured an ankle while running in June.
"As far as we are concerned there was never a case to answer to in the first place," Fury's manager, Mick Hennessy, told ESPN. "No one has ever said to me there's a positive test. I was never told at any stage there was a positive result.
"There are a lot of external forces at work. It's not right what is happening to someone who did something very special in Germany last year.
"There are certain people that don't like it, but it will all come out. I'm 100 percent certain it will be all right. As far as we are concerned the suspension has been lifted, and there's nothing to answer to.
"There are a lot of rubbish allegations out there, and there are a lot of people trying to bring Tyson and Hughie Fury down. There seems to be some sort of agenda out there against them.
"We are still working towards the date of Oct. 29 for the rematch. The governing bodies have only been in touch to know if the fight was going on on that date, and as far as I'm concerned it is."
Earlier this week, Fury, a native of Manchester, claimed he would sue UKAD over the allegations he used a performance-enhancing substance.
The Sunday Mirror, a British newspaper, reported in June that traces of the banned substance nandrolone were found in a urine sample taken from Fury in February 2015. That month, Fury beat Christian Hammer before then outpointing Klitschko to win the IBF, WBA and WBO world titles in Germany last November.
In a statement released Wednesday, UKAD said: "UK Anti-Doping can confirm that both boxers were charged on 24 June 2016 with presence of a Prohibited Substance.
"Mandatory Provisional Suspensions were imposed pursuant to Article 7.9.1 of the UK Anti-Doping Rules.
"The UK Anti-Doping Rules allow athletes to challenge the imposition of a Provisional Suspension and the independent National Anti-Doping Panel today lifted the athletes' suspensions, pending full determination of the charges. These charges will be heard at a hearing before the NADP in due course."
Australian Lucas Browne was stripped of the WBA's secondary world heavyweight title belt following a positive drug test earlier this year. Browne was banned for six months by the WBA after testing positive for clenbuterol.