In May 2019 the International Tennis Federation (ITF) reported an anti-doping rule violation against the Argentinian tennis player Luciano Tacchi (17) after his A and B samples tested positive for the prohibited substance Cocaine. After notification the Athlete gave a prompt admission, waived his right to be heard, accepted a provisional suspension and the sanction proposed by the ITF.
The Athlete denied the intentional use and asserted with experts and filed evidence that he inadvertently had ingested Cocaine through passive exposure through one or both two possible sources.
On the first occasion, three days before the sample collection, the Athlete had attended a birthday party were he had close contact with a family friend, had used his mobile phone screen to watch videos while he was unaware that this family friend was a Cocaine user and had used Cocaine several times during the course of the party.
On the second occasion the Athlete frequently stayed in the house of his aunt. Here he was also unware that her husband, his late uncle, had contamined the house with Cocaine. His uncle suffered from a Cocaine addition for many years, had reguraly consumed Cocaine in this house and after his death in 2018 apparently hidden deposits of Cocaine were found in the house.
In support the Athlete produced statements of the family friend and his aunt and he filed medical evidence about his uncle’s addiction and treatment. The family friend admitted the use of Cocaine at the party and confirmed that he had interacted with the Athlete. The Athlete’s aunt confirmed her husband’s Cocaine addiction and the presence of Cocaine in the house.
With support of an expert witness the Athlete produced the results of the analysis of his hair and toenail samples demonstrating that he is not a Cocaine addict, nor a recreative Cocaine user but that he had contact with an environment where Cocaine had been used. In addition the analysis of his aunt’s hair sample showed the presence of Cocaine consistent with environmental exposure.
Considering the Athlete’s evidence and the unique and exceptional circumstance in this case the ITF accepts that the Athlete has established that it is more likely than not that the presence of Cocaine found in his sample was due to his inadvertent ingestion at some point prior to the date of the sample collection of Cocaine that was present as an environmental contaminant in the house of the Player’s aunt.
The ITF holds that the Athlete’s violation was not intentional and concludes that the Athlete could not reasonably have known or suspected even with the exercise of utmost caution that simply by spending time in the house, after his uncle had passed away, the Athlete would himself be at risk of ingesting Cocaine.
With No Fault or Negligence the ITF decides on 9 December 2019 for the disqualification of the Athlete’s results, to eliminate any applicable period of ineligibility and to lift the Athlete’s provisional suspension with immediate effect.
