World heavyweight champion Tyson Fury could lose his licence after he revealed he was taking cocaine to help him deal with depression.
The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) is meeting on 12 October, when it will look at Fury’s admission.
BBBofC general secretary Robert Smith said cocaine use is against the law and “will be dealt with accordingly”.
IBF world champion Anthony Joshua backed Fury to return to the ring while Tony Bellew said Fury “needs help”.
Fury, 28, claimed he had retired on Monday before retracting the comment three hours later.
The BBBofC meeting has not been called exclusively for Fury’s case, but Smith said the body “can’t ignore the law of the land”.
BBC Sport has contacted the WBO and WBA – the two organisations with which Fury holds heavyweight titles – but is yet to receive a response.
The WBO and WBA can strip Fury of the title, declare the titles vacant, or he can vacate them.
Smith said: “We deal with the licence, so in theory, if we were to suspend him they would have no choice but to strip him because he can’t defend them, can he?
“You can’t just take a man’s licence away without taking the proper procedures, if we decide that’s the right thing to do.”
The BBBofC stripped Ricky Hatton of his licence after drug use allegations in 2010.
The former two-weight world champion has reportedly sent a text to Fury “asking him to give me a ring if he needs me”.
Fury – undefeated in 25 professional fights – has not fought since November 2015 when he inflicted a first defeat on Wladimir Klitschko in more than 11 years, winning the WBA, IBF and WBO belts.
He was stripped of the IBF belt within two weeks as he could not face mandatory challenger Vyacheslav Glazkov. A rematch with Klitschko for the WBA and WBO titles has twice been postponed.
British fighter Joshua now holds the IBF title, but the body’s president Daryl Peoples said the BBBofC should strip Fury of his licence “so he could focus on getting himself better”.
“I would try to convince Tyson and his camp that he needs to concern himself with bigger things than boxing,” Peoples told BBC World Service Sport.
Joshua has been targeted in some of Fury’s social media outbursts in the past and says he is “sure” his fellow Briton will return to the ring.
“Tyson is a fighting man, a real talent and he is good for boxing in his own way,” said Joshua. “It’s too easy to point the finger because none of us really know what he is going through.”
WBC cruiserweight champion Bellew said: “I know Tyson Fury the man and he’s not well. He needs help.
“The last thing we need and his family needs is a fatality on their hands. I’m telling you now he’s capable of that himself. I don’t cast him anywhere near in the same net that I would cast a vile, disgusting steroid cheat, because they are going into the ring with an advantage.”
Joe Gallagher, boxing coach to fighters such as Anthony Crolla, Scott Quigg and Liam Smith, said the BBBofC should not take Fury’s licence away.
“I just feel instead of stripping away his licence he needs an arm around him,” Gallagher told BBC Radio 5 live.
Manchester-born Fury also faces a UK Anti-Doping hearing in November after traces of a banned substance were allegedly found in a urine sample in June.
-BBC
