Players should be wary of using health supplements made in South America, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said, after banning Chile's Nicolas Jarry for 11 months for an anti-doping violation.
Jarry was provisionally suspended in January, after metabolites of two substances on WADA's (World Anti Doping Association) banned list - ligandrol and the anabolic steroid stanozolol - showed up in a urine sample he gave while playing for Chile at the Davis Cup Finals in Madrid, at the end of last year.
After an investigation, the ITF said it accepted the 24-year-old's explanation as to how the substances entered his system - namely that he had taken "multi-vitamins" made in Brazil that his doctor had recommended because they were supposedly free from banned substances.
Despite clearing him of significant fault or negligence for his violation, the ITF still imposed a sanction, although his period of ineligibility will be back-dated to start on the date of the last occurrence of his violation (December 16).
He will lose any prize money and ranking points earned at the Davis Cup and subsequent events. Jarry, who reached as high as 38th in the world last July, will be free to resume his career on November 16.
"With a clear conscience I tell you that we were able to prove in the investigation carried out by the ITF that the prohibited substances identified in the test, were originated in the Brazilian laboratory which cross-contaminated my vitamins," Jarry said in a statement on his Twitter account.
"I have accepted the 11-month sanction offered by the ITF."
Reuters
