Jarrell Miller has said he "messed up" after reported drug test failures forced an upcoming fight with Anthony Joshua to be scrapped.
In a grovelling video message posted on Instagram, Miller said it was "time to do right" and pledged to "come back better".
Miller's participation for the New York heavyweight bout on June 1 was already under threat after the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (Vada) informed both camps of an adverse finding in a drug-testing sample, leading to him being denied a licence for the date at Madison Square Garden.
Miller retained the right to request a further sample and to reapply for that licence to challenge Joshua in what will be the champion's US debut.
However, a second doping violation by Miller meant that fight was off the cards, promoter Eddie Hearn said.
Responding to the initial adverse finding on Tuesday, Miller had written on Instagram that he had "never knowingly taken any banned substance and when I found out the news I was totally shocked".
"My team and I stand for integrity, decency and honesty and together we will stand to fight this with everything we have," he said.
"This was a voluntarily test that I was very happy to do and these results came just one week after another voluntarily test that I had taken which was completely clean."
But on Friday, he struck a different tone, telling fans: "I messed up. I made a bad call. [There were] a lot of ways to handle the situation, I handled it wrongly and I'm paying a price for it.
"I messed up a big opportunity and I'm hurting on the inside. My heart is bleeding right now – I hurt my family, my friends, my team, my supporters.
"But, I'm owning up to it. I'm going to deal with it. I'm going to correct it. I'm going to come back better and I'm humbled by the experience."
Miller said boxers "go through a lot" and he did not want to give his fellow fighters a "bad name".
An adverse finding for GW1516, a metabolic modulator also known as cardarine and endurobol, was made in a sample on March 20.
Hearn had already started the search for alternative opponents from the point of Vada's first update, and he wrote on social media on Friday: "We have now received news from VADA that Jarrell Miller has now failed a second separate test for a further substance.
"AJ's June 1 opponent will be announced next week. If you don't think you can beat him clean then delete my number!"
Hearn's Matchroom Sport had long planned to build Joshua's profile in the US boxing market, to the extent that the fight location, which they remain committed to, and Brooklyn's Miller had been selected specifically to maximise its appeal.
Cuba's Luis Ortiz, Poland's Adam Kownacki and American Michael Hunter are among the fighters being considered as possible replacements for Miller.
500 People from Gaza enter France
115 Special programme for artists
25 Evacuation of injured and sick
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tottenham 0-1 Ajax, Tuesday
Second leg
Ajax v Tottenham, Wednesday, May 8, 11pm
Game is on BeIN Sports
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Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
The specs: 2018 Renault Koleos
Price, base: From Dh77,900
Engine: 2.5L, in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Power: 170hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 233Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.3L / 100km
The schedule
December 5 - 23: Shooting competition, Al Dhafra Shooting Club
December 9 - 24: Handicrafts competition, from 4pm until 10pm, Heritage Souq
December 11 - 20: Dates competition, from 4pm
December 12 - 20: Sour milk competition
December 13: Falcon beauty competition
December 14 and 20: Saluki races
December 15: Arabian horse races, from 4pm
December 16 - 19: Falconry competition
December 18: Camel milk competition, from 7.30 - 9.30 am
December 20 and 21: Sheep beauty competition, from 10am
December 22: The best herd of 30 camels
The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
