Gasquet to discover drugs-ban fate
Richard Gasquet
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Richard Gasquet will discover if he must serve an extended doping ban on Thursday as the Court of Arbitration for Sport meet to reveal their decision.
Banned for 12 months after failing a test for cocaine in March, the Frenchman was cleared just two and a half months into the suspension after the ITF disciplinary panel accepted Gasquet’s explanation.
Gasquet appealed against the original ban with the claim that the drug had entered his system after kissing a woman – known only as Pamela – in a Miami nightclub.
Accepting his claim, the tribunal felt that an extended ban would have been an injustice since “no more than a grain of salt” was recorded in Gasquet’s sample.
But despite being cleared in July, the 23-year-old now faces an extended ban after the ITF, along with the World Anti-Doping Agency, appealed against the decision of their own panel.
The two ruling bodies seek to ban Gasquet from tennis for up to two years.
Reaching a career-high ranking in 2007 and blessed with one of the most elegant backhands in the game, a ban would prove a major blow for the Frenchman, who has slipped well down the rankings to no.52 in a troublesome 2009 season.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport will reveal their decision at 16:30 GMT on Thursday.
