Mikael Ymer (Twitter)
Here’s everything you need to know about the suspension of Swedish tennis star Mikael Ymer who was recently banned
Mikael Ymer, the Swedish tennis player, has received an 18-month ban for failing to attend three doping tests outside of competition within a 12-month timeframe. The Court of Arbitration for Sport partially upheld an appeal by the International Tennis Federation, leading to this decision.
Notably, Ymer secured a significant victory at Wimbledon against a top 10 player before learning about the successful appeal, which initially found him not at fault for missing the third test.
Despite not testing positive for any banned substances, he must serve his suspension until 2025. Additionally, Ymer released a lengthy statement, explaining the circumstances behind the missed test and expressing his belief that he was treated unfairly.
Ymer has issued an official statement regarding the issue. “Having already been cleared once, and wholeheartedly standing by the fact that I do not feel that the third offense was committed, I find their decision to try me again and subsequently find me guilty, unfair“, he wrote on Twitter. He further added: “On top of that, I find it difficult to comprehend that they found an 18-month suspension to be a just punishment.”
Ymer has been in pretty good form of late and this 18-month ban certainly comes across as a big blow to his career. Ymer explained that he had been originally scheduled to stay at the main hotel for the Roanne Challenger tournament, but upon arrival, he was placed in secondary accommodation without his agent’s knowledge.
His agent, responsible for updating his whereabouts in the World Anti-Doping Agency system for random tests, wasn’t informed about the change and thus didn’t update the location. Ymer emphasized that he has never used or been accused of using banned substances. In January 2022, he faced charges from the ITF due to his third whereabouts violation, which occurred during a Challenger tournament in France the previous November.
While he acknowledged the first two failures, he argued that in the third instance, he had changed hotels, but his agent failed to update the necessary information. An independent tribunal upheld his explanation and cleared him of any wrongdoing in June 2022.
After the independent tribunal cleared Ymer of any wrongdoing, the ITF appealed the decision the next month, seeking a two-year ban for the Swedish tennis player. However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) imposed a slightly reduced sanction. CAS found that Ymer, being a professional and experienced athlete, held a high degree of fault in the matter.
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