Three South Americans hit with doping bans – As Tara Moore parallels are hard to ignore

The International Tennis Integrity Agency ( ITIA) has confirmed the provisional suspension of three male ATP Tour players, all South Americans who competed in the Challenger event in Bogotá, Colombia, on May 14. The suspended players are Connor Huertas del Pino (Peru, No. 548), Mateo Barreiros Reyes (Brazil, No. 825), and Andrés Urrea (Colombia, No. 1643).

All three players tested positive for boldenone, a non-specified substance prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). This substance is used by athletes to gain muscle mass. Any positive test for such substances requires a mandatory provisional suspension.

While provisionally suspended, Huertas del Pino, Barreiros Reyes, and Urrea are prohibited from playing, training, or attending any tennis event authorized or sanctioned by ITIA members.

"The samples were split into A and B samples and the subsequent analysis found that the players’ A samples contained boldenone, which is prohibited under the TADP, in the category of Anabolic Agents (section S1 [1.1] of the 2025 World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List). Boldenone is a non-Specified Substance, and none of the players possessed a valid TUE for the substance.

“The ITIA sent each player a pre-charge notice of an Anti-Doping Rule Violation on 7 July 2025 under Article 2.1 of the TADP (presence of a Prohibited Substance in a Player’s Sample) and/or Article 2.2 (Use of a Prohibited Substance without a valid Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE)). Findings for non-Specified Substances carry a mandatory provisional suspension – effective in each player’s case from 7 July 2025.”

Echoes of Tara Moore

Just a week ago, the doping case of Tara Moore took a new turn after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirmed a four-year doping ban for the British tennis player. The former British No. 1 ranked doubles player had been provisionally suspended in April 2022 after a prohibited substance was found following a tournament.

Moore was suspended for a total of 19 months until December 2023, when an independent panel determined that Moore was not at fault or negligent and lifted the sanction, allowing her immediate return to professional tennis.

However, it was recently confirmed that after CAS's appeal, Moore will have to serve a total of four years of suspension, deducting the 19 months already served. She could return to tennis in early 2028 at 35 years old.

"I don’t need a panel to tell me I’m 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 this process is," stated the 32-year-old player after the verdict. "The anti-doping system is broken. I am proof of this. We need to fix it. Not for me as it’s too late, but for future players who find themselves in this unfortunate situation. I have so much more to say when the time is right.”

Boldenone Cases: The recurring issue of contaminated meat

In Tara Moore's case, she wasn't the only one suspended; Barbara Gatica, a Chilean player who also participated in the same tournament, received the same suspension between 2022 and 2023. Both players proved that they consumed beef contaminated with anabolics, something they were not properly warned about.

Coincidentally, the doping positive for the trio of South American tennis players — Huertas del Pino, Barreiros Reyes, and Urrea — occurred precisely at a tournament in Colombia, and for the same substance that initiated the cases for Moore and Gatica.

In fact, they are not the only ones affected by similar circumstances. In 2019, Colombian doubles player Robert Farah also tested positive for the same anabolic. This came at the worst possible time, as he had just won the Wimbledon and US Open men's doubles titles (alongside his compatriot Juan Sebastian Cabal) and had reached the doubles world No. 1 ranking just months earlier. In February 2020, the ITF lifted the suspension after determining that there was no fault or negligence on the part of the multiple Grand Slam champion.