Bogota (AFP)
Colombian tennis player Robert Farah, number 1 in the world double ranking with his compatriot Juan Sebastian Cabal, has tested positive for an anabolic and will not participate in the Australian Open, he announced on Tuesday.
"The ITF (the international tennis federation) informed me of the presence of boldenone (an anabolic, editor's note) during an October 17, 2019 test in Cali," Farah wrote in a statement published on his social networks. .
The 32-year-old tennis player, winner with Juan Sebastian Cabal of the last two Grand Slam tournaments of 2019 (Wimbledon and the US Open), attributed the positive test to the consumption of Colombian meats contaminated by this substance, often used to stimulate the growth of beef and prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
"I am sure that is what generated the test result in question," he said, saying that he had tested negative two weeks earlier during a test in Shanghai, as well as during the fifteen random checks he says he underwent in 2019.
In 2018, the Colombian Olympic Committee (COC) alerted national athletes to the presence of boldenone in the country's cattle. Boldenone is sold freely in Colombia by veterinary prescription and, according to a study by the Colombian Agricultural Institute, it is found in one in four beef samples.
Robert Farah has been provisionally suspended and faces up to four years of suspension. The announcement comes the same day as the suspension of Chilean tennis player Nicolas Jarry, 78th player in the world and also tested positive for anabolics.
© 2020 AFP