The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has today confirmed that Brazilian tennis player Gilbert Klier Junior has been banned for 12 months after accepting a charge under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme.
Klier Junior, who had a highest ATP ranking of 354 was tested at an ATP Challenger event in Mexico City in April 2022. Subsequent analysis of the sample found the presence of SARM S-22. SARM S-22 is an anabolic agent banned at all times under Section S1.2 (Other Anabolic Agents) of the 2022 WADA Prohibited List. SARM S-22 is not a Specified Substance and the player was accordingly provisionally suspended on 9 June 2022.
The ITIA accepted that the player had not deliberately taken the substance and that its presence was as a result of a contaminated supplement. However, following other high profile cases involving Brazilian tennis players and other sports people, the ITIA considered that the player did bear some responsibility for the finding. In December 2022, the player accepted a ban of twelve months, back dated to the start of the player’s provisional suspension (9 June 2022) and ending on 8 June 2023. During this period, the player is prohibited from playing in or attending any tennis event authorised or sanctioned by the governing bodies of tennis.
The ITIA is the delegated third party, under the World Anti-Doping Code, of the International Tennis Federation, the international governing body for the sport of tennis and signatory of the Code. The ITIA is responsible for the management and administration of anti-doping across professional tennis in accordance with the TADP.
The full decision is published on the ITIA website.
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Published 06 February 2023 15:45
