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| ITF Press Release |
| Decision in the case of Ivo Minar |
London, England, 14 Oct 2009 - The International Tennis Federation announced today that Ivo Minar has been found to have committed a Doping Offence under Article C.1 of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (presence of a Prohibited Substance in player’s sample).
Mr Minar, a 25-year-old tennis player from the Czech Republic, provided a sample on 11 July 2009 during the Davis Cup quarterfinal tie in Ostrava between the Czech Republic and Argentina. That sample was sent to the WADA-accredited laboratory in Montreal, Canada for analysis, and was found to contain methylhexanamine, a stimulant. Methylhexanamine is a Prohibited Substance under the 2009 WADA List of Prohibited Substances and Prohibited Methods, and is therefore also prohibited under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme.
Mr Minar asserted that the methylhexanamine had got into his system through his ingestion of a nutritional supplement product called “Tight! Xtreme”. He presented evidence that he had taken the product on professional advice, and had not been told that the product contained a Prohibited Substance. He therefore denied taking any Prohibited Substance knowingly, and denied any intent to cheat.
The ITF accepted Mr Minar’s account of the background to his positive test. Under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme, however, it is a player’s strict personal duty to ensure that no Prohibited Substance enters his or her body, whether as an ingredient in a nutritional supplement or otherwise.
The ITF therefore confirmed Mr Minar’s commission of a Doping Offence under Article C.1 of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme, and determined that Mr Minar should be suspended from participation for a period of eight months, commencing on 11 July 2009 and ending on 10 March 2010. The ITF also determined that Mr Minar’s results from the 2009 ATP tournaments in Stuttgart, Hamburg and Gstaad should be disqualified, with resulting forfeiture of the prize money that he won at those events.
The Tennis Anti-Doping Programme is a comprehensive and internationally recognised drug-testing programme that applies to all players competing at tournaments sanctioned by the ITF, ATP World Tour, and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Players are tested for substances prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency and upon a finding that a Doping Offence has been committed, sanctions are imposed in accordance with the requirements of the World Anti-Doping Code. More background information on the Programme, sanctions, tennis statistics and related information can be found at www.itftennis.com/antidoping.
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