Tara Moore had actually been cleared of doping allegations. But the Tennis Integrity Agency intervened – with bitter consequences for the player.
Professional tennis player Tara Moore has been banned for four years for doping. This was announced by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Tuesday evening. The panel has thus reversed an earlier decision that had cleared Moore. The ban begins retroactively on July 15. Any suspension periods already served will be taken into account.
The case was investigated by the Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) in January 2023. Moore tested positive for the banned substances boldenone and nandrolone at the WTA tournament in Bogotá in April 2022. She claimed that the substances had entered her body through contaminated meat.
High nandrolone concentration “not adequately explained”
An independent tribunal followed this line of argument. In December 2023, Moore was acquitted. However, the ITIA brought the case before the CAS in January 2024. The demand: a four-year ban.
After a thorough review of the evidence, the majority of the CAS panel concluded that Moore had “failed” to prove that the nandrolone found was caused by contaminated meat. The original decision by the independent tribunal was overturned.
Karan Moorhouse, CEO of the ITIA, said: “Our bar for appealing a first-instance decision is high, and the decision is not taken lightly.” Moore had “not adequately explained” the high concentration of nandrolone in the sample.