The Spanish tennis player Fernando Verdasco has accepted a two-month sanction for an involuntary violation against anti-doping regulations, for forgetting to renew the receipt to consume a prohibited substance, methylfedinate, which was prescribed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ).
As reported on Wednesday by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), the substance appeared in Verdasco’s urine in a control he was subjected to in February at the ATP Challenger in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). “The player admitted the anti-doping rule violation and explained that he had been diagnosed with ADHD and that he had legitimately used methylphenidate, as a prescribed medication to treat the condition, in accordance with a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE),” the Agency said. .
But Verdasco, 38, forgot to renew the TUE when it expired. In fact, since then the World Anti-Doping Agency and ITIA renewed it again without objection, after making the necessary checks.
ITIA “accepts that the player had no intent to cheat, that his infringement was inadvertent and unintentional and that he has no significant fault or negligence as a result,” the tennis cleanliness body said. In these circumstances, the sanction that would be applicable for the consumption of doping substances is reduced from two years to two months.
The period of ineligibility began on the date of the player’s voluntary provisional suspension and will end on January 8, 2023. Methylphenidate is a psychostimulant approved for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
