British tennis star slapped with four-year ban issues statement and vows 'I'm innocent'

"Broken" British tennis star Tara Moore has released a statement reacting to her four-year ban and declared she is "innocent". The doubles ace was provisionally suspended in June 2022 after testing positive for two banned substances, nandrolone and boldenone, while at a tournament in Colombia. But she was cleared by an independent tribunal in December 2023.

The tribunal ruled that contaminated meat was the source of the prohibited substances and that Moore "bore no fault or negligence". However, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) appealed this decision, which has been upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The 32-year-old was immediately banned for four years, though it will be reduced by the 19 months she served while provisionally suspended.

The decision was announced on Tuesday, and former British doubles No. 1 Moore has now spoken out for the first time since.

"To be innocent and to have to prove that is an incredibly gruelling process. Firstly, you're trying to figure out what these things are, secondly, you are figuring out how and why these things got into your system," she wrote.

"If you are innocent you don't just know straight away. You have to go through everything you've done and eliminate what it can't be, until you settle on something it most likely is. Even then, you are presumed guilty and have fight for your life against someone that has more money and resources than you.

"The last 3 and a half years have broken me into so many pieces. As my family and friends have scrambled to pick up the broken shards of me, they've glued me back together in the form of a different person.

"I don't need a panel to tell me I'm innocent. I know the integrity I bring and I know I am innocent. I believe everyone over the past couple of years can see how subjective this process is.

"I have been the underdog. I have had my life as I knew it ripped away from me because the organisations and people in power failed to do what was right. They may have taken my fight away on the court, yet my fight is not over, not for me or others like me.

"The anti-doping system is broken. I am proof of this. We need to fix it. Not for me as it's too late, but for future players who find themselves in this unfortunate situation. I have so much more to say when the time is right."

When her case was put to an independent tribunal in December 2023, Moore argued that an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) for nandrolone should not have been reported, and that the presence of boldenone and nandrolone in her sample must have been caused by the consumption of beef and/or pork in Colombia.

The ITIA appealed in January 2024 and Moore filed an Answer and a Cross Appeal last June. These were conducted together in March. In the meantime, the former doubles No. 77 returned to competition and played at Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open.

In a release last week, CAS said: "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 was not intentional."

ITIA Chief Executive Officer Karen Moorhouse said: "For the ITIA, every case is considered according to the individual facts and circumstances.

"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."

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