International Tennis Authorities To Determine Advanced Drug Testing

Written by: Staff on 20th February 2013

International Tennis Authorities To Determine Advanced Drug Testing

epa03558513 Andy Murray of Great Britain hits a backhand during the men's final against Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 27 January 2013. EPA/Barbara Walton |

As the main bodies of tennis prepare to meet in New York early next month to determine vastly more meticulous drug testing in tennis and the introduction of biological passports in the professional game, the World Anti-Doping Agency has believes the use of outlawed substances in all sport are now worse than ever, and a new trans-national body is needed to combat wide-ranging corruption.

The International Tennis Federation, the ATP World Tour, the WTA and the Grand Slam Committee will sit down on March 5 with a combined determination to answer the calls for more blood testing in tennis, which at the moment has few proven offenders to rival those in cycling or track and field but remains open to suspicion.

However David Howman, director general of WADA whose drug code tennis adheres to, has admitted widespread doping is getting “bigger and more serious” and is “getting too big for sport to manage”.

Therefore, the light of the Lance Armstrong admissions, the Operation Puerto trial in Spain and the revelations of the Australian Crime Commission’s investigation into organized crime and drugs, Howman has called for a new “sports integrity unit”.

WADA would be part of this, as would the existing Tennis Integrity Unit, which currently concentrates on match-fixing, corrupt betting and other forms of cheating increasingly linked to global-organized crime. This body would then liaise with law enforcement agencies around the world.

Howman warned: “If anyone thinks the mafia and underworld aren’t involved in sport, they are in fairyland.”

Tennis is just one sport wide open to accusations of not doing enough to combat the threat of doping, too often failing to test enough blood samples for EPO and too often seeking to do the bare minimum. The likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have all called for more blood testing but the ITF maintain an increase would be too expensive for the current budget.

WADA president, John Fahey recently called on other professional sports to follow the lead of baseball and ensure that players were targeted for testing four times a season. Some professionals in America’s NFL could go through their entire career without being tested, he said.

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: ATP tennis news, biological passports, David Howman, drug testing in sports, Tennis News, Wada, WTA tennis news