In September 2019 it was announced he had failed a drug test taken in July when traces of synthetic erythropoietin, also known as EPO, were found in his urine; he was subsequently dropped from the 2019 World Championships by the Norwegian Boxing Federation. He was accused of taking the "blood booster" following his loss in the European Games and before his professional fight in Germany. His only explanation was that he could have accidentally ingested something at Stavernfestivalen, the music festival he attended the day before the test.