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