British tennis player Tara Moore, 31, issued a strong statement after being cleared in her doping case, acknowledging that she battled “emotional distress” during her entire 19 months away from tennis. Moore, a former world No. 145, was provisionally suspended in 2022 May after testing positive for the anabolic steroids boldenone and nandrolone. Since Day 1, Moore maintained her innocence and took her case to the independent tribunal. On Saturday, the ITIA revealed that an investigation determined that Moore ate contaminated meat that had banned substance and therefore the British tennis player bore no fault or negligence.
“19 months. 19 months of lost time. 19 months of my reputation, my ranking, my livelihood, slowly trickling away. 19 months of emotional distress. 19 months and my team and I are finally given the answer we knew from the very start. It’s going to take more than 19 months to rebuild, repair and recuperate from what we’ve been through, but we will come back stronger than ever. Thank you to everyone for the messages and support and I hope to see you on the tennis court in 2024!” Moore said in a message posted on X.
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— Tara Moore (@TaraMoore92) December 23, 2023
The ITIA announces Moore is free to return to tennis
“The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) today confirms an independent tribunal has determined that tennis players Tara Moore and Barbara Gatica bore No Fault or Negligence for their Adverse Analytical Findings and are therefore not subject to a period of ineligibility… A hearing was convened remotely by Sport Resolutions on 14 and 15 December 2023, following which the independent tribunal determined that contaminated meat consumed by each player in the days before sample collection was the source of the prohibited substance(s) found in the players’ samples and, therefore, that both players bore No Fault or Negligence for their violations,” the ITIA said in a statement.
Moore last played in 2022 May at a WTA event in Rabat, where she failed to make the main draw after losing in the qualifying final round. It remains to be seen how will Moore look when she returns to tennis at the start of 2024.