Silva, who won Brazil's first gold medal at her home Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, confirmed she had failed a drugs test during the event in the Peruvian capital but has denied deliberate wrongdoing.

The 27-year-old said she had tested positive for fenoterol, used to help treat asthma, on August 9 – the day she won gold in the women's under-57 kilograms category.

"I am clean and will continue to train and fight to prove my innocence," Silva said.

"I tested positive for fenoterol but I did not use this substance, I am not asthmatic."

Silva also reportedly insisted a second test on August 29 did not show any traces of a banned substance.

She claims she may have been exposed to fenoterol, which is on the World Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited list, by a friend's baby.

The 2013 world champion could be stripped of her Lima 2019 title if she is found guilty of an anti-doping rule violation, which may also rule her out of defending her Olympic crown at Tokyo 2020.

Silva, who was born in the notorious City of God favela, shot to global stardom with her rags to riches triumph at Rio 2016.

After World Championships and Pan American Games silver medals in 2011, Silva suffered heartbreak at London 2012, retrospectively disqualified after initially winning a preliminary bout for a blow judged to be an illegal chop.

Silva recovered to win the following year's world title at the Maracanãzinho in Rio de Janeiro, becoming the first woman from her country to claim a global crown in judo. 

insidethegames has contacted the International Judo Federation for comment.