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View Full Version : Kuznetsova - Tennis drug cheat?



Fishman Dan
18th January 2005, 11:47 AM
Belgian tennis officials have named this 'ova as a drug cheat, citing that ephedrine was found in a sample. The WTA have slammed the decision to name the player because "due process" apparently wasn't followed.

The final comment in the article i read (Sydney Morning Herald) is that ephedrine is only banned in-competition, and this was an Exhibition Event during the off-season. So what gives? Are the Belgian's trying to cut down a tall poppy, or is she a drug cheat?

I remember a couple of years ago when it was announced that compulsory testing was going to be introduced into tennis, that the Willams sisters and Capriati (among others? Mauresmo?) stated that they'd give the game away because it's a breach of privacy :roll:

AndyP
18th January 2005, 12:44 PM
WTA Tour Statement from Larry Scott, CEO of WTA Tour

In all my years in sports, I have never seen a more disgraceful and
irresponsible act by a sports official. This is an egregious breach of ethical
standards of confidentiality and due process which govern anti-doping
programs, and has unnecessarily tainted our sport and three wonderful
athletes. The Belgian authorities have not complied with credible antidoping
procedures, which require the presumption of innocence and the
strictest confidentiality. The regional Belgian sports minister who has
made public comments on the matter has said himself that the named
player must be presumed innocent and that the alleged substance could
have been a cold medicine taken during an out-of-competition exhibition
event in the middle of the off-season. It is important to note that under the
WADA Code, the alleged substance is not even prohibited unless it is
found in competition.

To date, neither the WTA Tour, the named Players, the ITF, Tennis Australia
nor the Russian Tennis Federation has been contacted by the Belgian
authorities, and the WTA Tour’s own inquiries to the Belgian authorities
have gone unanswered.

The WTA Tour, through the extremely rigorous Tennis Anti-Doping
Program modeled on the WADA Code, is committed to ensuring the
integrity of women’s professional tennis. For this reason, we are both
outraged by the irresponsible nature of the accusations and committed to
ensuring that due process and proper procedures are followed.

Melbourne, Australia
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Sounds like the Belgian's have stuffed up, based on this.

Notice that the above statement mentions 3 players. I wonder who the other two are?
They probably aren't as high profile as the Russian, who is ranked no. 5.

Fishman Dan
18th January 2005, 12:55 PM
The other players are Russian Elena Dementieva and Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy.

But it's the last line in the Sydney Morning Herald article that had me scratching my head commenting that this wasn't a regular season fixture, therefore it would be ok to be caught?!

AndyP
18th January 2005, 01:05 PM
But it's the last line in the Sydney Morning Herald article that had me scratching my head commenting that this wasn't a regular season fixture, therefore it would be ok to be caught?!
That appears to be the case.
Get those roids into ya during the off season, then get the drug out of the system before you play a comp. :smt102

Bruce
18th January 2005, 01:10 PM
I have ephedrine in my system right now.

Given that it is a component of almost every cold and flu remedy on the market I can see why it would be OK for out of competition samples. Particularly as it flushes through so quickly.

Substances are either banned or not under the different conditions. They can't say "no more than 30mg of ephedrine" in their testing schedule as they can't accurately test for that. Thus *all* forms are banned to separate those with a cold from a speed demon.

Fishman Dan
18th January 2005, 01:32 PM
I have ephedrine in my system right now.

Given that it is a component of almost every cold and flu remedy on the market I can see why it would be OK for out of competition samples. Particularly as it flushes through so quickly.

Substances are either banned or not under the different conditions. They can't say "no more than 30mg of ephedrine" in their testing schedule as they can't accurately test for that. Thus *all* forms are banned to separate those with a cold from a speed demon.

You'll have pseudoephedrine in your system as per any cold and flu capsule, i can't tell you what the differences are though. I have no sympathy for professional athletes who get busted for having pseudoephedrine in their system - there are strict guidelines that they have to abide by, and their entourage including medical should also be fully aware. They should just get used to not being around these things - on or off-season. This also includes the immediate family of World Class legspinners. :roll:

Don't forget that testing also includes substances that mask the presence of the likes of ephedrine, steroids, hard drugs etc.

Keza_G
18th January 2005, 02:00 PM
I have ephedrine in my system right now.

Given that it is a component of almost every cold and flu remedy on the market I can see why it would be OK for out of competition samples. Particularly as it flushes through so quickly.

Substances are either banned or not under the different conditions. They can't say "no more than 30mg of ephedrine" in their testing schedule as they can't accurately test for that. Thus *all* forms are banned to separate those with a cold from a speed demon.

You'll have pseudoephedrine in your system as per any cold and flu capsule, i can't tell you what the differences are though. I have no sympathy for professional athletes who get busted for having pseudoephedrine in their system - there are strict guidelines that they have to abide by, and their entourage including medical should also be fully aware. They should just get used to not being around these things - on or off-season. This also includes the immediate family of World Class legspinners. :roll:

Don't forget that testing also includes substances that mask the presence of the likes of ephedrine, steroids, hard drugs etc.

I agree on this, I believe the difference between pseudoephedrine and ephedrine is that one is manufactured to imitate the abilities of the other. This is just what speed junkies use.... and there is no room for it's use in sport. If you are sick, maybe try a herbal remedy or even pull out... If you have to win using a stimulant, what kind of a player are you without them ? answer: a nothing and a never willbe or should be.

And that's my 5 cents worth......

Cheers

Keza

Flowergirl
18th January 2005, 02:11 PM
She was tested while playing in a Charity Match and she had a heavy cold. Sounds cool to me.

Fishman Dan
18th January 2005, 02:28 PM
She was tested while playing in a Charity Match and she had a heavy cold. Sounds cool to me.

But even in these matches, players shouldn't be taking anything with pseudoephedrine. It should just be burnt into their brain that some substances are not to be used, no matter how sick they are.

As Keza said - if you're that sick, pull out.

davidp
18th January 2005, 02:31 PM
She was tested while playing in a Charity Match and she had a heavy cold. Sounds cool to me.

But even in these matches, players shouldn't be taking anything with pseudoephedrine. It should just be burnt into their brain that some substances are not to be used, no matter how sick they are.

As Keza said - if you're that sick, pull out.

It was also a couple of days before Christmas. If it was me, I'd want to be feeling healthy for Christmas, match or no match.

Keza_G
18th January 2005, 02:38 PM
She was tested while playing in a Charity Match and she had a heavy cold. Sounds cool to me.

But even in these matches, players shouldn't be taking anything with pseudoephedrine. It should just be burnt into their brain that some substances are not to be used, no matter how sick they are.

As Keza said - if you're that sick, pull out.

It was also a couple of days before Christmas. If it was me, I'd want to be feeling healthy for Christmas, match or no match.

If she was that sick before christmas maybe she shoulda pulled out and taken all the necessary drugs she needed to be fully fit ad healthy for the new year and for christmas day..

this is all an asumption that she was completely innocent...... maybe she was just drugged up and didn't think she would be tested for a charity match.... only she knows....

Cheers

Keza

Fishman Dan
18th January 2005, 02:45 PM
only she knows....

Sad thing is she probably doesn't have a clue - all she knows is to go out and play tennis (and by doing that appease her sponsors). You hear that these professional athletes get put through the wringers about drugs in sport, but especially in womens tennis, they start so young that you wonder if it all sinks in?

Keza - i guess long driving is the same as any sport? Do you have to attend anti-doping seminars?

Keza_G
18th January 2005, 02:51 PM
only she knows....

Sad thing is she probably doesn't have a clue - all she knows is to go out and play tennis (and by doing that appease her sponsors). You hear that these professional athletes get put through the wringers about drugs in sport, but especially in womens tennis, they start so young that you wonder if it all sinks in?

Keza - i guess long driving is the same as any sport? Do you have to attend anti-doping seminars?

No such thing in Long driving in Australia..... In America they said they would drug test but didn't..... So maybe I should pump it in and pump it up.....!!!! :wink:

I gain more satisfaction in knowing that I DID IT, not any drugs....

Cheers

Keza

Jarro
18th January 2005, 04:04 PM
She was tested while playing in a Charity Match and she had a heavy cold. Sounds cool to me.

maybe she just wanted to make sure that she made her commitment to the charity organisers, and was legitmately ill ....

.. give her a break guys .... too much grey area here.

It wasn't a professional competition or anything, just a bloody charity match forchristsakes :roll:

Ducky
18th January 2005, 04:39 PM
No such thing in Long driving in Australia...
Interesting...

Anyone have Shane Warne's phone number?

:D

Kind regards,

Ben (Ducky).

Fishman Dan
18th January 2005, 05:15 PM
It wasn't a professional competition or anything, just a bloody charity match forchristsakes :roll:

No, but there's still a banned substance list, and as a professional she should know that taking anything on it is just trouble.

The thing no one has elaborated on, is how long does the effect of pseudoephredine last? If it's a pre-Christmas dose, and the effects last 7 days, i can't see the harm :smt102

Golfgirl
18th January 2005, 08:10 PM
The thing no one has elaborated on, is how long does the effect of pseudoephredine last? If it's a pre-Christmas dose, and the effects last 7 days, i can't see the harm


Good point.....

Sounds like some oversealous officials got a bit carried away with their public announcements on this one. It does seem like a fairly straight forward case of a player taking some cold and flu medicine in the official off season (albeit during a charity match).

Does golf have drug testing??
:?: