2024 US Open men's doubles champion Max Purcell has admitted to violating anti-doping rules and has been provisionally suspended from tennis pending an investigation.
Purcell had confessed on December 10th and applied for a provisional suspension, but had been suspended since December 12th. On December 23, the International Tennis Integrity Authority (ITIA) confirmed the suspension of the 26-year-old Australian for violating rules governing the use of tennis courts. It is not a test that shows a positive result for a banned substance, it is a “prohibited method.”
Purcell released a statement on Instagram, saying, “I voluntarily accepted an interim suspension because I unknowingly received more than 100ml of intravenous vitamins than was allowed.” Until I received medical records from the clinic last week showing that the amount of IV fluid I received was over 100ml, I was completely confident that I had done everything to ensure that I followed WADA regulations and methods. I was doing it.
“However, records show that the IV was over the 100ml limit, even though I was a professional athlete and I told the clinic that the IV needed to be less than 100ml.”
According to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), “infusions or injections of less than 100 ml within a 12-hour period are permitted unless the substance being injected/injected is on the prohibited list.”
“Prohibited Methods” falls under three possible definitions in the WADA Code: One is blood manipulation, commonly referred to as blood doping. Chemical and physical manipulation. This extends to any form of tampering or processing of blood or urine samples, including intravenous infusions. and genetic and cellular doping. Parcel violations fall under chemical and physical manipulation.
ITIA has not yet commented on the details of Purcell's violations.
Since the suspension is provisional, it is unclear how long Tennis-Purcell will miss, but that time will be subject to a final sanction once the investigation into his case is completed. Despite being ranked 105th in the world and on the verge of qualifying for the main draw, he was not on the Australian Open singles wild card list.
The doubles entry list has not yet been released, but Purcell, who won the US Open title with compatriot Jordan Thompson in September and is ranked 12th in the doubles world, is in line to join his alma mater in the majors. Purcell also won the Wimbledon men's title in 2022 with fellow Australian Matt Ebden.
Purcell becomes the third major champion to be indicted on anti-doping charges in 2024. Last year's Australian Open champion and world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who twice tested positive for the banned drug clostebol in March, was found not guilty by three independent tribunals convened by the ITIA. Sinner, who also won the US Open title, is awaiting the outcome of WADA's appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which could see him banned for up to two years.
French Open champion Iga Swiatek tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) in August and was suspended for one month. Twenty-two days of that suspension were covered by an interim suspension, which caused her to miss three tournaments. Mr Swiatek was deemed not to have been seriously negligent.
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(Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
