Tennis: New anti-doping measures announced
Introduction of Athlete Biological Passport requires Tennis Anti-Doping Programme to increase number of blood tests.
LONDON:
Tennis is to introduce biological passports for players this year to help in the fight against doping, according the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
Several top players on the men’s tour, including Swiss great Roger Federer and US Open champion Andy Murray, have gone public with their belief that more time and money needs to be devoted to keeping tennis free from drug cheats.
The ITF said there was unanimous support for the introduction of the passport, which is used to detect variances in biological make-up that might indicate doping and has been introduced in cycling.
The introduction of the Athlete Biological Passport will require the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme to increase the number of blood tests every year.
In addition, the working group also recommended an overall increase in the amount of testing with additional funding provided by all the governing bodies in tennis and administered by the ITF.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 8th, 2013.
Tennis is to introduce biological passports for players this year to help in the fight against doping, according the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
Several top players on the men’s tour, including Swiss great Roger Federer and US Open champion Andy Murray, have gone public with their belief that more time and money needs to be devoted to keeping tennis free from drug cheats.
The ITF said there was unanimous support for the introduction of the passport, which is used to detect variances in biological make-up that might indicate doping and has been introduced in cycling.
The introduction of the Athlete Biological Passport will require the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme to increase the number of blood tests every year.
In addition, the working group also recommended an overall increase in the amount of testing with additional funding provided by all the governing bodies in tennis and administered by the ITF.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 8th, 2013.