Tara Moore has been issued with a four-year doping ban, despite the British tennis player being cleared of wrongdoing just 18 months ago.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ruled Moore failed to provide enough evidence to prove her failed drug test from 2022 was accidental.
Moore, a former British No.1 in doubles, tested positive for nandrolone and boldenone in May 2022 while competing at a tournament in Colombia.
Nandrolone and boldenone are anabolic steroids, synthetic versions of testosterone. The former has been coined ‘the sportsman’s favourite performance drug’ by The Guardian.
Moore, who has always denied any wrongdoing, was originally hit with a provisional suspension for over a year before an independent hearing.
An independent tribunal then ruled that contaminated meat was the source of her positive drugs test – and that Moore ‘bore no fault or negligence’.
’19 months of lost time and emotional distress’
After the ruling, Moore said she’d been through ’19 months of lost time and emotional distress’ and argued her reputation had been wrongly tarnished.
The Briton made her return to the ITF World Tour last year and was in the draw for Wimbledon, the US Open and featured at the Australian Open.
But the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) issued an appeal against the decision that she was not responsible for the positive test.
Following a new CAS hearing, a majority ruling has now sided with the ITIA, and the 32-year-old’s four-year ban has been subsequently reimposed.
She will not be allowed to play again until 2028 – although 19 months of her suspension has been deducted – because it’s already been served.
‘High level of nandrolone in Moore’s sample’
A statement from CAS read: ‘After reviewing the scientific and legal evidence, the majority of the CAS Panel considered that the player did not succeed in proving that the concentration of nandrolone in her sample was consistent with the ingestion of contaminated meat.
‘The panel concluded that Ms Moore failed to establish that the ADRV (Anti-Doping Rule Violation) was not intentional.
‘The appeal by the ITIA is therefore upheld and the decision rendered by the Independent Tribunal is set aside.’
Karen Moorehouse, the ITIA’s chief executive, said that Moore failed to sufficiently explain the level of nandrolone in her system at the time.
‘For the ITIA, every case is considered according to the individual facts and circumstances,’ Moorehouse said.
‘Our bar for appealing a first instance decision is high, and the decision is not taken lightly.
‘In this case, our independent scientific advice was that the player did not adequately explain the high level of nandrolone present in their sample. Today’s ruling is consistent with this position.
‘We understand that players and their support teams may have questions about this decision, and we will answer these fully once we have reviewed the details of the ruling.’
