'My fight for justice isn’t over': British tennis player takes legal action against WTA, ITIA after receiving four-year ban for failing dope tests

British player Tara Moore has vowed to fight for justice after being handed a four-year ban for doping. The 33-year-old was initially banned in May 2022 after being tested positive for banned substance nandrolone and boldenone. Her test was taken during a competition in capital of Colombia, Bogota.

The ban was later turned over after 18 months following a verdict that was announced by an independent tribunal, which claimed that the reason behind players’ positive return of the test was contaminated meat and that Moore had no fault in that.

Moore returned to the court in 2024 but the International Tennis Integrity Agency ( ITIA) launched an appeal against the verdict in front of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas). On July 15th, the CAS decided to ban Moore for four years after concluding the player failed to establish the availability of the banned substance in the sample was ‘unintentional’.

"After reviewing the scientific and legal evidence, the majority of the Cas panel considered that the player did not succeed in proving that the concentration of nandrolone in her sample was consistent with the ingestion of contaminated meat," Cas said in a statement which was reported by the BBC Sport as well. "The panel concluded that Ms Moore failed to establish that the ADRV (Anti-Doping Rule Violation) was not intentional. The appeal by the ITIA is therefore upheld and the decision rendered by the Independent Tribunal is set aside."

Vows to fight

The ITIA chief executive Karen Moorhouse was recently quoted in a report by English media outlet Daily Express where she explained the reason behind the organisation’s decision to lodge an appeal in front of the CAS.

"For the ITIA, every case is considered according to the individual facts and circumstances," said Moorhouse. "Our bar for appealing a first instance decision is high, and the decision is not taken lightly. In this case, our independent scientific advice was that the player did not adequately explain the high level of nandrolone present in their sample. Today's ruling is consistent with this position. We understand that players and their support teams may have questions about this decision, and we will answer these fully once we have reviewed the details of the ruling."

When the ruling was announced, Moore issued an statement on X claiming that she was innocent. She also said at that time that there was a need to fix the doping system which is ‘broken’. “The last three and a half years have broken me into so many pieces,” she wrote. “As my family and friends have scrambled to pick up the broken shards of me, they have glued me back together in the form of a different person. I don’t need a tribunal to tell me that I am innocent. I know the integrity I bring and I know I am innocent. I believe everyone over the past couple of years can see how subjective the process is. The anti-doping system is broken. I am a proof of this. We need to fix it. Not for me as it’s too late but for future players.”

Moore, in another statement released on Tuesday on X, vowed to fight for ‘justice’ and blamed the WTA and the ITIA for not informing her about the risk of having contaminated meat during the competition in Bogota, which according to her has ‘wrecked’ her career.

“Many have asked what my next move will be,” said Moore. “We need to bring attention to the flaws in these organisations. My fight is not over. My fight for justice isn’t over. The WTA & ITIA failed to warn me about the known risk of meat contamination in Bogota that wrecked my career. I’ve filed arbitration against both of them for the pain they have caused me. I can’t comment further because it is a confidential arbitration. Thank you to everyone for your support.”