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| ITF Press Release |
| Decision in the case of Filippo Volandri |
London, England, 15 Jan 2009 - The International Tennis Federation announced today that Filippo Volandri, a 27-year-old Italian tennis player, has been found by an independent Anti-Doping Tribunal convened under the 2008 Tennis Anti-Doping Programme to have committed a Doping Offence.
The independent Tribunal found that a sample provided by Mr. Volandri on 13 March 2008 at the ATP Tour event in Indian Wells, California, USA, contained salbutamol at a concentration greater than 1,000 ng/ml. Salbutamol at such a concentration is a Prohibited Substance under the Programme, the presence of which in a player’s sample constitutes a Doping Offence unless the player can prove that its presence was due to his therapeutic use of asthma medication in accordance with an abbreviated therapeutic use exemption (an ‘ATUE’) issued under the Programme.
Mr Volandri claimed that the high concentration of salbutamol found in his sample was due to his inhalation of Ventolin (which contains salbutamol) to treat an asthma attack. He relied on an ATUE that he had been granted for use of Ventolin to treat his asthma.
The Tribunal accepted that Mr Volandri had not taken salbutamol with intent to enhance his sporting performance; rather, he had taken salbutamol to treat his asthma. However, it found that his ATUE only permitted him to use asthma medication in line with generally accepted asthma treatment guidelines, and that the amount of salbutamol he inhaled was not consistent with such use, and so could not be said to be proper therapeutic use in accordance with his ATUE. The Tribunal therefore found that a Doping Offence had been committed.
The Programme implements the World Anti-Doping Code in the sport of tennis. The changes to the Code for 2009 include treating salbutamol as a “Specified Substance”, even at a concentration greater than 1,000 ng/ml, which triggers a discretion on the part of the Tribunal as to sanction if it is satisfied the substance was not used to enhance sports performance. Applying the legal principle of “lex mitior”, the Tribunal held that Mr Volandri was entitled to the benefit of that rule change and that therefore, because it was satisfied that he had not used salbutamol with intent to enhance his performance, it had discretion as to the sanction to be imposed.
Based on its assessment of Mr Volandri’s relative fault, the Tribunal decided to impose a period of Ineligibility on Mr Volandri of three months, starting from 15 January 2009 and therefore ending at midnight on 14 April 2009.
The Tribunal also ordered that Mr Volandri’s results from Indian Wells, and from competitions that he played subsequent to 18 August 2008, should be disqualified, with the resulting forfeiture of the ranking points and repayment of the prize money that he won at those events.
A copy of the Tribunal’s full, reasoned decision can be accessed on the ITF’s website, at www.itftennis.com/antidoping. Any party wishing to appeal the decision has three weeks to do so from receipt of the written decision.
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