"I categorically reject the that I deliberately took something" - Martin after ban following positive doping test
ATP
Former ATP World No. 93, Andrej Martin, has been banned from tennis after the Slovak player tested positive for a banned substance.
Martin has been a longtime professional playing on the ATP Tour for many years and doing so quite well. The 32-year-old has not had the best of seasons this year, seeing his ranking drop outside of the Top 100.
On top of his struggles on the tennis court, Martin will now have even more worries, as he tested positive for a banned substance. The sample was collected on June 7th when Martin competed at the ATP Challenger event in Bratislava back home in Slovakia.
He immediately released a statement, rejecting the idea that he would intentionally take a banned substance to boost his performance.
"From my youngest days, my parents taught me to be honest both in sports and in life. I've always been the same, people who know me are very aware of how much I judge fraud and lies. The news about the positive doping test shocked me."
"I categorically reject the idea that I deliberately took something on the list of prohibited substances. I use very few supplements and have not changed them in the last five years."
"I always approached training and swords honestly, because I thought that with honesty alone you can become a real winner. However, I strongly condemn all prohibited methods of ‘correcting’ sports results."
"This whole situation is incomprehensible to me because I have done dozens of tests during my entire career and I never suspected that every time the result would be negative."
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has now launched an investigation, and as long as it's ongoing, Martin will be prohibited from playing in any competitions, putting his tennis career on hold.
