In November 2021 the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has reported an anti-doping rule violation against the Colombian tennis player Alejandro Gomez after his A and B samples tested positive in a concentration above the WADA threshold.
After notification a provisional suspension was ordered. Finally the Athlete waived his right for a hearing, accepted the test results and the sanction proposed by ITF.
The Athlete denied the intentional or recreational use of the substance and established with experts how the substance had entered his system. He explained with evidence that his consumption of Sonora Soledad tea in a restaurant Bogota in October 2021 had caused the positive test result. Here he was unaware that this tea not only contained peppermint, yet also contained coca leaves.
In this matter the Montreal Lab confirmed that the found concentration in the Athlete's sample was consistent with his consumption of tea containing coca leaves. As a result the ITF accepts that the Athlete has demonstrated that the violation was not intentional and how the substance has entered his system. In view of the Athlete's conduct the ITF considers that he acted with No Significant Fault or Negligence.
Therefore the ITF decides on 10 August 2022 to impose a 14 month period of ineligibility on the Athlete, starting on the date of the provisional suspension, i.e. on 15 December 2021.
