Tennis players will lose a longstanding exemption from strict anti-doping whereabouts requirements throughout tournaments from January 2027, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) mentioned on Wednesday.
Changes to the World Anti-Doping Code require players in a sport’s Registered Testing Pool (RTP) to present a each day 60-minute testing window throughout competitors from 2027, ending an exemption beforehand granted to tennis due to the unpredictability of players’ schedules.
The ITIA, an unbiased physique that protects equity within the sport, mentioned that it could cut back the scale of its RTP, transferring round 80% of players presently within the group to an expanded testing pool the place the each day 60-minute requirement won’t apply.
“Players who remain in the reduced RTP will be required to provide a daily 60-minute time slot like athletes in every WADA-compliant sport, both in and out of competition,” the ITIA added.
The variety of players chosen throughout each testing swimming pools shall be broadly per the present testing swimming pools, and testing frequency and quantity are unlikely to change.
The new guidelines may even present better safety for players who can set up {that a} optimistic check was attributable to contamination, together with by remedy, meals or drink, environmental publicity or one other individual.
They may even present better flexibility in sanctions in sure circumstances, with rehabilitation-focused choices for some leisure drug circumstances unrelated to sporting efficiency.
Players will be told in November which pool they’ve been assigned to, although particular person classifications won’t be made public.
All players, no matter their testing pool standing, should present a pattern when requested by a doping management officer, with refusal carrying a potential ban of up to 4 years.
