In July 2023 the International Tennis Federation (ITF) reported an anti-doping rule violation against the American tennis player Jenson Brooksby for his whereabouts filing failures and missed tests within a 12 month period.
Following notification a provisional suspension was ordered. The Athlete filed a statement in his defence and he was heard for the ITF Independent Tribunal.
The Athlete did not dispute the first and third missed test on 19 April 2022 and 4 February 2023, yet he challenged the charge of a missed test on 4 June 2022. He admitted that he had delegated the responsibility for his anti-doping obligations to his agent and he had never attended anti-doping seminars.
The Athlete explained that he was present in the hotel, yet his hotelroom and the hotelroom of his physiotherapist had been booked under the name of his physiotherapist. He acknowledged that when he checked in his name was not put on the reservation and he did not hear to his cell phone ring because he had set it to silent.
The Athlete asserted that the Doping Control Officer (DCO) did not do what was reasonable in the circumstances to collect a sample from him. By contrast the ITF argued that the DCO was unable to locate the Athlete in the hotel because his room was registered in the name of his physiotherapist and he did nothing to address that risk.
In view of the evidence the Panel accepts that the Athlete was present in the hotel, yet failed in his duty to be available and accessible. Further the Panel determines that the DCO took all reasonable steps in the circumstances to locate the Athlete at the hotel.
The Panel deems that the Athlete had acted with a degree of negligence because he had failed to update his roomnumber in his whereabouts information because it was registered under the name of his physiotherapist. He also failed to answer the telephone call of the DCO because he had left the phone in silent mode.
Therefore the ITF Independent Tribunal decides on 24 October 2023 to impose an 18 month period of ineligibility on the Athlete, starting on the date of the provisional suspension, i.e. on 5 July 2023.
