British tennis player Tara Moore has been banned for four years for a doping offence, despite being cleared by an independent tribunal 18 months ago.

An appeal by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has been upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).

The four-year ban starts immediately, but will be reduced by the 19 months Moore was provisionally suspended when the case first came to light.

The 32-year-old was Britain’s top ranked women’s doubles player when she was provisionally banned in May 2022 having tested positive for nandrolone and boldenone at a tournament in the Colombian capital Bogota the previous month.

But in December 2023 an independent tribunal ruled contaminated meat was the source of the positive test, and that Moore “bore no fault or negligence”.

The British player said she had suffered “19 months of lost time and emotional distress”, and that her reputation had been damaged as a result of the case.

She returned to the tour in April 2024 and has played mostly on the ITF World Tour since.

Earnings for doubles players are meagre, although Moore did make it into the main draw for Wimbledon and the US Open last year, as well as for the Australian Open this January.

But following a hearing in March, this ruling from Cas means she will not be free to play again until the start of the 2028 season.

“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,” Cas said in a media release.

“The panel concluded that Ms Moore failed to establish that the ADRV (Anti-Doping Rule Violation) was not intentional. The appeal by the ITIA is therefore upheld and the decision rendered by the Independent Tribunal is set aside.”

Other than through a highly unusual procedural appeal to the Swiss courts, Cas’ decision is binding on all parties.

“For the ITIA, every case is considered according to the individual facts and circumstances,” the ITIA chief executive Karen Moorhouse said.

“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.

“We understand that players and their support teams may have questions about this decision, and we will answer these fully once we have reviewed the details of the ruling.”

Bbc.com

As hostilities set to take centre stage at the CAA African U18/20 Athletics Championship holding in Abeokuta, Ogun state, the Alake of Egbaland, HRM, Oba Michael Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, has expressed confidence that the next generation of Africa athletics Super Stars will come out of the Championship.

The Alake expressed the strong optimism when the Director General of the National Sports Commission, NSC, Hon Bukola Olopade, the Osi Osoju Oba of Egbaland, led a delegation of the Confederation of African Athletics, CAA, to a courtesy visit to his Royal Highness in his palace in Abeokuta on Tuesday.

The Paramount ruler of the Egba people said Abeokuta as the host city of the junior championship, boost of rich Cultural heritage and history.

” First of all, I want to say i am very happy that our son, Hon Bukola Olopade, is the Director General of everything concerning sports in Nigeria and we are so proud with the work he is doing to develop Nigeria Sports.

“We are also very happy to be staging this championship here in Abeokuta and I am very confident that many of the young talents that are participating in this championship will soon begin to shine all over the world”.

” And it might also interest our visitors to know that Abeokuta is the first town to produce a Traditional Ruler to go to Europe in 1904 in the whole of West Africa. We signed a treaty of friendship with the British in 1893 so when the British had the whole of Nigeria as a colony we were not part of it”, he said.

The Alake also urge the CAA officials to take full advantage of their presence in the state by ensuring they experience the rich culture and hospitality of Egbaland.

” Before you all leave Abeokuta I want to urge you to visit the first Presidential Library in West Africa – the Olusegun Obasanjo Library. You should also visit our local market and buy our adire which is our export to the world. In all you do, take something from Abeokuta, that will remind you of your coming”, he added.

The President of CAA, Halmad Kalkaba Malboum expressed his great appreciation to his Royal Highest , the Alake of Egbaland and used the medium once again to thank President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, for creating the platform and support that enabled Nigeria and Ogun state to host the championship in the shortest possible time after the withdrawal of Algeria, the former host.

The CAA President was accompanied to the visit by the full gamut of his executive board and other top officials of the World Athletics family.

Rising sprint sensation Sunday Janet delivered a stellar performance at the SWAC 8 Pre-National Championship Athletics Competition, claiming a double victory that underlines her growing stature on the national scene.

In a fiercely contested women’s 100m hurdles final, Janet held her nerve to edge out Precious Uduuweghre Okeoghene and Divine Bamigboye, clocking 14.25s to take gold.

Her composure over the barriers proved decisive, as she narrowly beat Okeoghene (14.35s) and Bamigboye (14.47s) in a race that went down to the wire.

Undeterred by the effort, Janet returned to the track later in the day for the women’s 100m flat. There, she delivered another commanding run, sprinting to victory in 12.04s—just ahead of Aljinda Elsiane (12.07s) and Adesiyan Janet (12.16s).

Her dominant showing in both events not only secured her a memorable sprint double but also signaled her readiness for bigger national assignments, as she continues to build momentum ahead of major competitions.

Janet’s performance at the Abeokuta-hosted championship highlights her versatility and hunger, positioning her as one of the top athletes to watch this season.

Sports247.ng