"The 22-year-old player is gathering evidence to prove his innocence despite two samples testing positive."
No, that's not Yanina Wickmayer, who has just been suspended by a Belgian anti-doping committee panel. (Besides, she's a girl, and it clearly says "his.") Why? Because she didn't report her whereabouts to the same officials three times. Sounds about right. Rules are rules. And when you blow off officials three times, it does appear as if you're hiding something. It will be interesting if her one-year suspension stands. Because, of course, these are the same people (the ITF, or an independent group assembled by same) who let Richard Gasquet get by with "I kissed cocaine-crusted lips." For the record, the ITF and the World Anti-Doping Agency is still pushing for a suspension for Gasquet. Confused? No, it is retarded. (Gosh, Martina Hingis has got to be kicking herself right now for not fighting her positive test. All she'd need to say is that she brushed past a cokehead in the doctor's office and the residue got in her system. But really, who would have known it'd be that easy?)
Throw in Andre Agassi's Mountain Dew theory and we've got a severe case of mixed signals, people. Aren't all these countries using the same rulebook? Then why can you get suspended for not testing positive for drugs, but get let off when there were drugs in the system? In Gasquet's case, the point is not the drugs. It's cocaine. Hardly performance-enhancing. The point is that we need some consistency here. A spotty drug policy is worse than no policy.
Oh, and Xavier Malisse also got suspended for ducking officials twice. Which should guide him gently into the pasture of retirement. Unless he has been using something.
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