Gasquet cleared to get back on court
Source: Agencies |
July 17, 2009, Friday
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Print Edition
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RICHARD Gasquet of France escaped a lengthy doping ban on Wednesday when the International Tennis Federation ruled that he inadvertently took cocaine by kissing a woman in a nightclub.
The 23-year-old, who was cleared to resume playing after completing a 2 1/2-month ban on Wednesday, convinced an independent anti-doping tribunal that he ingested cocaine from kissing the woman he had just met at the club in Miami.
The tribunal panel of three lawyers said Gasquet consumed no more than "a grain of salt" of the drug, and a long ban would be an injustice in a case which was "unusual to the point of being probably unique."
"We have found the player to be a person who is shy and reserved, honest and truthful, and a man of integrity and good character," the tribunal said in its ruling. "He is neither a cheat nor a user of drugs for recreational purposes."
The ITF, which had sought a two-year ban under the terms of the World Anti-Doping Agency's code, was told to impose a retroactive ban of two months, 15 days. That cleared Gasquet to resume playing.
Gasquet will play again "in the next few weeks," his spokesman Arnaud Lagardere said in a statement.
Gasquet, ranked 32nd in the world, tested positive in a urine sample in March after he pulled out of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, with a shoulder injury.
The tribunal said Gasquet's rights to practice his profession would be infringed by a one-year suspension, though it was required to find that a doping offense was committed.
It also noted that Gasquet would be banned for life if he tested positive for a banned drug a second time.
The ruling allowed the Frenchman to keep the ranking points and prize money he gained in April.
The 23-year-old, who was cleared to resume playing after completing a 2 1/2-month ban on Wednesday, convinced an independent anti-doping tribunal that he ingested cocaine from kissing the woman he had just met at the club in Miami.
The tribunal panel of three lawyers said Gasquet consumed no more than "a grain of salt" of the drug, and a long ban would be an injustice in a case which was "unusual to the point of being probably unique."
"We have found the player to be a person who is shy and reserved, honest and truthful, and a man of integrity and good character," the tribunal said in its ruling. "He is neither a cheat nor a user of drugs for recreational purposes."
The ITF, which had sought a two-year ban under the terms of the World Anti-Doping Agency's code, was told to impose a retroactive ban of two months, 15 days. That cleared Gasquet to resume playing.
Gasquet will play again "in the next few weeks," his spokesman Arnaud Lagardere said in a statement.
Gasquet, ranked 32nd in the world, tested positive in a urine sample in March after he pulled out of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, with a shoulder injury.
The tribunal said Gasquet's rights to practice his profession would be infringed by a one-year suspension, though it was required to find that a doping offense was committed.
It also noted that Gasquet would be banned for life if he tested positive for a banned drug a second time.
The ruling allowed the Frenchman to keep the ranking points and prize money he gained in April.
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