'It's man-made to test 5G': Boxer Khan spreads coronavirus conspiracy claims, suggests pandemic could be 'population control' plot

Former world champion boxer Amir Khan has suggested that coronavirus did not originate in China and that the Covid-19 pandemic could be part of a plot to test new 5G communication networks and “get rid of a lot of us.”

In a confusing series of clips, the British star repeated a baseless conspiracy theory linking coronavirus to the 5G broadband network, which has recently been rolled out in several countries across the world.

‘This country is finished’: Unfounded UK ‘5G coronavirus’ conspiracy theories mercilessly mocked 

Despite expert scientific studies repeatedly concluding that the high-speed communications system does not pose a threat to humans, Khan said he had “been watching a lot of these videos and stuff” and believed the technology “obviously” poisons human cells and blood, adding that it would “make things bad.”

“I don’t think it’s coming from China,” a drowsy-looking Khan said in a story on Instagram, where he has more than 1.3 million followers. “That’s a lie, really. People are saying that they were eating bats and snakes and the poison mixed. What b*llshit is that? Do you believe that? I don’t.

“Coronavirus this, coronavirus that – you’re probably getting bored of it, as I am. Do you not think it’s anything to do with that 5G in these towers that are going up?

“It’s a manmade thing. It’s been put there for a reason – while they test 5G. It might be for population control – get rid of a lot of us, especially when they say that it harms old people. Look at these towers at nighttime that have been put up, then telling people not to go out.”

Now he fears that “very bad” radiation, supposedly emitted by new masts, is causing the crisis – echoing the kind of concerns that may have led to a 20-meter telephone mast being burned in Birmingham this week in what is thought to have been an arson attack by anti-5G protestors.

In another video that emerged this week and has been watched by millions of people, a pair of employees carrying out cabling work on a street can be seen looking baffled as a woman accuses them of installing 5G as part of a plot to kill people – even though the broadband company they were working for does not use 5G.

Technology companies and analysts have said that networks including 5G are vital for communicating during a crisis that has isolated people worldwide.

“I bet they’re going to put one of those towers outside my house,” predicted Khan. “Who is behind all this? I hope it doesn’t start a war or anything.”

© Reuters

Khan seemed to support the widely-accepted diagnosis of the virus when the UK initially entered lockdown, telling fans to wash their hands to avoid spreading germs and holding up the hand sanitizer he was using in a Twitter video last month.

He also publicly offered the National Health Service (NHS) a complex he had built to host weddings and retail outlets in his hometown of Bolton, saying: “We are looking down the barrel of bed shortages and people not getting vital treatment. NHS Bolton will bear this in mind. The offer is there. Please keep safe everyone.”

Khan warned that his latest videos could lead to people saying “that Amir Khan has lost his head”. “They’ll probably try to section me off, saying ‘this guy has taken too many punches to the head,’” he added, having noted “a pattern” to historic network roll-outs.

“Every time 3G, 4G, 5G happens, there’s always a pattern. Back in 2003, when 3G was released to the world, [there was a] SARS outbreak. Then in 2009, when 4G was introduced, everyone seemed to have this big outbreak of swine flu. 2020, guys – 5G, coronavirus breakout.”

SARS was identified in China four years before 3G was introduced in 2006, while global installation of 4G was roughly contemporaneous to the start of swine flu in Mexico, arriving the previous year and becoming increasingly widespread after the outbreak ended in 2010.

Khan has held a high profile in the UK for much of his 15-year professional career, raising money for a variety of causes through the charitable foundation he launched in 2011 to support disadvantaged young people and emergencies.

The 33-year-old has not fought since a fourth-round win over Billy Dib in Saudi Arabia last July and has a new baby with wife Faryal, but has claimed he was targeting an April fight before entering lockdown and has named former sparring partner Manny Pacquiao and British rival Kell Brook as possible future opponents.