Related case:
CAS 2020_A_7536 Ashley Kratzer vs ITF
June 15, 2021
In March 2020 the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has reported an anti-doping rule violation against the American tennis player Ashley Kratzer after her A and B samples tested positive for the prohibited substance GHRP-6.
After notification a provisional suspension was ordered. The Athlete filed a statement in her defence and she was heard for the ITF Independent Tribunal. Analysis of the creams and supplements she had used revealed that a Cream contained a significant amount of GHRP-6.
The Athlete denied the intentional use of the substance and accepted the test results. She demonstrated that she suffered from a longstanding, severe blistering problem on her heels, toes and sides of her feet. The blisters often turn into open sores and cause her to bleed through her shoes. She had consulted several doctors and physiotherapists for this problem and underwent a variety of treatmens without any lasting success.
She testified that in China, in April 2019 prior to a Tournament, she suffered from severe blistering. As treatment there she used a Cream provided in an unlabelled bottle by a trainer whom she was told was associated with the Chinese Tennis Federation. She was never curious about what the Cream contained and acknowledged that she didn't mention the use of the Cream on the Doping Control Form.
The Athlete stated that afterwards the Athlete was unsuccesfull in her attempts to locate the trainer. She was not in the registered testing pool, she was tested twice in her career and had limited anti-doping education.
The ITF contended that the Athlete established that the Cream was the source of the prohibited substance buty failed to demonstrate that the violation was not intentional.
The Tribunal accepts that the Athlete had little anti-doping education and that she did not deliberately used the prohibited substance. However the Tribunal finds that Athlete engaged in conduct knowing that there was a significant risk that it might result in an anti-doping rule violation and that she manifestly disregarded that risk. The Tribunal deems that she has not dischardged her burden of rebutting the presumpiton of intentional use.
Therefore the Tribunal decides on 28 October 2020 to impose a 4 year period of ineligibility on the Athlete starting on the date of the provisional suspension, i.e. on 28 March 2020.
