Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek handed BAN from tennis after positive doping test
TENNIS star Iga Swiatek has been slapped with a one-month doping ban following a failed drugs test.
The world No.2 tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine in an out-of-competition test in August.
Iga Swiatek has been hit with a one-month suspension[/caption]
Swiatek protested her innocence, claiming her ingestion of the substance was down to her ingesting contaminated melatonin.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency have accepted her explanation for how TMZ – which can aid athletic performance – ended up in her system.
But they have hit the 23-year-old with a one-month period of ineligibility due to her lack of “due diligence”.
An ITIA statement read: “The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) today confirms that Iga Swiatek, a 23-year-old tennis player from Poland, has accepted a one-month suspension under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme, after testing positive for the prohibited substance trimetazidine (TMZ) in an out-of-competition sample in August 2024.
“The ITIA accepted that the positive test was caused by the contamination of a regulated non-prescription medication (melatonin), manufactured and sold in Poland that the player had been taking for jet lag and sleep issues, and that the violation was therefore not intentional.
“This followed interviews with the player and their entourage, investigations, and analysis from two WADA-accredited laboratories.
“In relation to the Player’s level of fault, as the contaminated product was a regulated non-prescription medication in the player’s country of origin and purchase and considering all the circumstances of its use (and other contaminated product cases under the World Anti-Doping Code), the player’s level of fault was considered to be at the lowest end of the range for ‘No Significant Fault or Negligence’.
“The ITIA therefore offered a one-month suspension to Swiatek and on 27 November 2024, the player, currently ranked number two in women’s singles, formally admitted the ADRV and accepted the sanction.
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“The player was provisionally suspended from 22 September until 4 October, missing three tournaments, which counts towards the sanction, leaving eight days remaining.
“In addition, the player also forfeits prize money from the Cincinnati Open, the tournament directly following the test.”
Swiatek’s period of ineligibility will end on December 4
ITIA CEO Karen Moorhouse said of the sanction: “Once the source of the TMZ had been established, it became clear that this was a highly unusual instance of a contaminated product, which in Poland is a regulated medicine.
“However, the product does not have the same designation globally, and the fact that a product is a regulated medication in one country cannot of itself be sufficient to avoid any level of fault.
“Taking into account the nature of the medication, and all the circumstances, it does place that fault at the lowest end of the scale.
“This case is an important reminder for tennis players of the strict liability nature of the World Anti-Doping Code and the importance of players carefully considering the use of supplements and medications.
“It is vital that appropriate due diligence takes place to minimise the risk of inadvertent ADRVs such as this.
“Help and support is available to players and their entourages, both directly through the ITIA, and through other organisations and schemes which check and test products.”
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