Who adjudicates positive tests and decides whether players should be punished, and for how long?
Cases are adjudicated by anti-doping tribunals, which are appointed by the ITF and act independently (the members are experts and not ITF employees; players have the right to challenge an appointee). If the ITF receives a positive test, it informs the player and begins the adjudication process. The ITF will advocate for penalty before the tribunal, which will decide to uphold the ITF’s recommendation, or side with the player if the player presents a defense. In the recent case of Richard Gasquet, for example, the ITF sought a one-year suspension when Gasquet tested positive for cocaine. A tribunal accepted Gasquet’s defense, which was that he tested positive for the drug after kissing a woman who had used it, and reduced the suspension to two and a half months. The ITF unsuccessfully appealed the reduced sanction to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
