Gasquet Cleared to Resume Career After Cocaine Ban
In May, 2009, the ITF provisionally suspended French tennis player, Richard Gasquet, when he tested positive for cocaine. As a result, Gasquet missed the 2009 French Open and Wimbledon. After a two-day hearing of Gasquet’s appeal in early July, an independent Anti-Doping Tribunal panel of three lawyers found that Gasquet had committed a Doping Offense when he tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, in a
urine sample after he pulled out of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, in March, 2009 because of a shoulder injury. After deciding to withdraw from the tournament, Gasquet went to a nightclub with friends to see a French DJ perform at a Miami dance music festival.
The Tribunal accepted Gasquet’s plea of No Significant Fault or Negligence, on the basis that he was able to demonstrate on the balance of probabilities how the cocaine entered his system (through inadvertent contamination by kissing a girl in the nightclub who had most likely consumed cocaine during the night). The Tribunal agreed that Gasquet was at fault in exposing himself to the risk of such contamination, but said that fault was not significant. Given the exceptional and “probably unique” circumstances of the case (the Tribunal said Gasquet consumed no more than "a grain of salt" of the drug and that if he had been tested a couple hours later, the test result would have probably been negative), the Tribunal ruled that it would be unjust and disproportionate to impose a 12 month sanction on Gasquet. Instead, the Tribunal imposed a two and half month retroactive ban which began May 1st and ended July 15th. In the future, if Gasquet tests positive a second time for a banned drug, he will be banned for life.
The ITF had sought a two-year ban under the terms of the World Anti-Doping Agency's code. The Tennis Anti-Doping Program is a comprehensive and internationally recognized anti-doping program that applies to all players competing at tournaments sanctioned by the ITF, ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Players are tested for substances prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency and upon a finding that a Doping Offense has been committed, sanctions are imposed in accordance with the requirements of the World Anti-Doping Code. Gasquet is now ranked thirty-second, nine places lower than he was before the drug ban, but the ruling did allow him to retain the ranking points and prize money he gained at tournaments in April.
This ruling on Gasquet’s appeal seems fair given the amount of cocaine in his body and the circumstances. Martina Hingis retired (again) two years ago after testing positive for a small amount of cocaine while competing at Wimbledon and losing her appeal to the ITF’s independent Tribunal. Hingis received a two year ban from the ITF. Gasquet’s ban, while very short in comparison to Hingis, establishes that players are responsible for what enters their bodies while allowing for some acknowledgement of the special circumstances in each individual case.
The Tribunal accepted Gasquet’s plea of No Significant Fault or Negligence, on the basis that he was able to demonstrate on the balance of probabilities how the cocaine entered his system (through inadvertent contamination by kissing a girl in the nightclub who had most likely consumed cocaine during the night). The Tribunal agreed that Gasquet was at fault in exposing himself to the risk of such contamination, but said that fault was not significant. Given the exceptional and “probably unique” circumstances of the case (the Tribunal said Gasquet consumed no more than "a grain of salt" of the drug and that if he had been tested a couple hours later, the test result would have probably been negative), the Tribunal ruled that it would be unjust and disproportionate to impose a 12 month sanction on Gasquet. Instead, the Tribunal imposed a two and half month retroactive ban which began May 1st and ended July 15th. In the future, if Gasquet tests positive a second time for a banned drug, he will be banned for life.
The ITF had sought a two-year ban under the terms of the World Anti-Doping Agency's code. The Tennis Anti-Doping Program is a comprehensive and internationally recognized anti-doping program that applies to all players competing at tournaments sanctioned by the ITF, ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Players are tested for substances prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency and upon a finding that a Doping Offense has been committed, sanctions are imposed in accordance with the requirements of the World Anti-Doping Code. Gasquet is now ranked thirty-second, nine places lower than he was before the drug ban, but the ruling did allow him to retain the ranking points and prize money he gained at tournaments in April.
This ruling on Gasquet’s appeal seems fair given the amount of cocaine in his body and the circumstances. Martina Hingis retired (again) two years ago after testing positive for a small amount of cocaine while competing at Wimbledon and losing her appeal to the ITF’s independent Tribunal. Hingis received a two year ban from the ITF. Gasquet’s ban, while very short in comparison to Hingis, establishes that players are responsible for what enters their bodies while allowing for some acknowledgement of the special circumstances in each individual case.
|| Comments (0)
