Wimbledon winner slams ‘serious intrusion into my privacy’ by anti-doping official
Marketa Vondrousova has voiced her unhappiness with one anti-doping officer’s behaviour after she was forced to provide a sample outside of her testing window.
Under the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s (ITIA) Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (TADP), players on the International Registered Testing Pool (IRTP) must submit their whereabouts information on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) platform, ADAMS, in order to allow anti-doping officials to conduct no-advance-notice out-of-competition testing.
Those on the IRTP must provide whereabouts information for every day of the year and three non-compliances – filing failures or missed tests – in the space of 12 months could result in a ban.
2023 Wimbledon winner Vondrousova’s name appears on the list, meaning she has to make herself available for testing at least once a day with testers allowed to arrive without informing her.
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And while the current world No 34 has no issues with being at home during her allocated slot every day, she is upset by the fact that an anti-doping official wanted to test her outside of declared time and, on top of that, the person was not respectful.
In an Instagram Story – in which she tagged the WTA, International Tennis Federation and WADA – the Czech wrote: “Every day, we are required to be home for one specific hour for doping control. I respect that rule – every single day. Tonight, however, a tester arrived at 8:15 pm and told me that my declared time doesn’t matter and that I must be tested right now.
“When I pointed out that it’s outside my testing window and a serious intrusion into my privacy, I was told: ‘This is the life of a professional athlete.’
“Is it normal for doping officers to sit in our living rooms at night waiting for us to pee? This is not about avoiding testing – it’s about respect. Respect for the rules that we follow, and for the personal life that we’re entitled to after a long day of training and competition. Rules should apply to everyone, even to those enforcing them.”
