United World Wrestling (UWW) confirmed today that the Azerbaijani who won the gold medal in the men’s 60 kilogram competition at London 2012 before picking up silver in the 65kg category last year in Rio de Janeiro had been banned for 12 months after testing positive for higenamine.

Along with Asgarov, UWW officials also announced that Russian Greco-Roman wrestler Aslan Visaitov had been suspended for four years after traces of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor agonists were found in a test he gave at the Under-23 European Championships in Szombathely in Hungary.

Asgarov’s positive sample came from an out-of-competition test completed on February 5 and analysed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited laboratory in German city Cologne.

Higenamine falls under section three of the WADA 2017 Prohibited List and is often found in supplements.

"According to UWW’s records, no Therapeutic Use Exemption was delivered by UWW to justify the presence of higenamine in the wrestler’s system," a UWW statement said.

Last year, Liverpool's Mamadou Sakho was temporarily banned by UEFA after testing positive for Higenamine causing the Frenchman to miss the 2016 Europa League final. 

He was later cleared. 

Asgarov also won a gold medal at the 2015 European Games in Baku in the 65kg weight category and a 55kg silver from the 2010 World Championships in Moscow.

The suspension for Asgarov is due to run from the date of the decision until April 17 next year.

In their statement, the UWW did not indicate that any results involving the Azerbaijani would be changed.

Visaitov’s sample was sent to the WADA-accredited laboratory in Seibersdorf in Austria after being taken from the wrestler on April 2.

The drug found in the Russian’s system is a hormone and metabolic modulator prohibited by WADA.

His suspension will run from April 24 until April 23 in 2021.

Along with the ban, Visaitov’s results from the Greco-Roman 66kg category at the competition, where he won a silver medal, has been alter following his disqualification.

Ukrainian Serhii Kozub has been awarded silver with bronze medals for Bulgaria’s Deyvid Tihomirov Dimitrov and Sebastian Nadj of Serbia.