The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) has slammed the Belgian sports minister who broke the news that Russia's U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova had failed a doping test, describing his actions as disgraceful.
WTA chief executive Larry Scott said the stimulant that Kuznetsova allegedly tested positive for was not even a banned drug and the minister had broken all the rules on confidentiality by publicly identifying her.
"In all my years in sports, I have never seen a more disgraceful and irresponsible act by a sports official," Scott said in a strongly-worded statement released on Tuesday.
"This is an egregious breach of ethical standards of confidentiality and due process which govern anti-doping programmes, and has unnecessarily tainted our sport and three wonderful athletes.
"The Belgian authorities have not complied with credible anti-doping procedures, which require the presumption of innocence and the strictest confidentiality."
World number five Kuznetsova was one of three players implicated in the scandal after Belgian regional sports minister Claude Eerdekens announced there had been a positive test from an exhibition tournament in Charleroi last month.
Only four players took part in the event and Eerdekens said one of them, Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne, had been cleared, putting the spotlight on the other three, Kuznetsova, her compatriot Elena Dementieva and Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy.
All three denied any wrongdoing and Eerdekens later announced that Kuznetsova had tested positive for ephedrine, a stimulant found in over-the-counter cough and cold medicines.
NO REPLY
Scott said the WTA had called the Belgian authorities demanding to know why the report was leaked to the media but had not got a reply.
"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," Scott said.
"It is important to note that under the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) 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 (International Tennis Federation), Tennis Australia nor the Russian Tennis Federation has been contacted by the Belgian authorities, and the WTA Tours own inquiries to the Belgian authorities have gone unanswered.
"The WTA Tour, through the extremely rigorous Tennis Anti-Doping Programme modelled 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."
