Fernando Verdasco admits to a violation of the Anti-Doping Policy as he gets charged with offense having suspension upto 2 years
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Fernando Verdasco
Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco becomes the latest tennis player to have been caught by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for violating the drug policy. The former World No. 7 has admitted and accepted the charge.
The sample that violated the policy was found in February 2022 at a Challenger event in Brazil. Verdasco had been undergoing treatment for ADHD and had a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) for consuming methylphenidate as medicine, a substance that’s banned unless the player has the TUE.
Verdasco however admitted that his TUE had expired and he had forgotten to renew it, thus breaching the policy. While he has been handed a renewed TUE, he will still serve the length of his suspension of 2 months. The original sentence is for 2 years but the ITIA and WADA found it was not a deliberate violation and have reduced the sentence to 2 months instead.
For Verdasco, who is currently ranked 125th in the world, the reduced sentence is of great help as his suspension ends on 8th January 2023, which will not have a big impact on the start of his season. His sentence was also reduced as he admitted to the charge.
Fernando Verdasco joins Simona Halep on the list of players suspended this year
Verdasco is the second player to be suspended from the Tour for violating the drug policy. A few weeks back, former World No. 1 Simona Halep was also caught for the use of roxadustat which the player has refused to admit taking. The drug is a performance enhancer and was found in Halep’s sample from the 2022 US Open.
With Halep challenging the decision, the final verdict is yet to come. If however, Halep is indeed found guilty, she could be barred from the Tour for up to four years. Halep has however pleaded not guilty and is hell-bent on proving that she will clear the stain from her name.
The case of Halep and Verdasco however has been dealt with quite differently. While Verdasco sure did inform the authorities about his ailment and had been using it with help of TUE, Halep’s results were a surprise for everyone which led to a stricter sentence for her.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)