British tennis star slapped with four-year ban for doping offence

British tennis star Tara Moore has had her four year doping ban upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The ban starts immediately, although 19 months of the suspension have already been served.

Moore, 32, was ranked as Britain's best doubles player when she was provisionally banned in May 2022 after testing positive for nandrolone and boldenone at a tournament in Colombia. In December 2023 though, an independent tribunal accepted her explanation that contaminated meat was the reason of the positive test, and that Moore "bore no fault or negligence." She duly returned to professional tennis in April 2024.

However, as appeal by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has now been upheld by CAS. In a statement, the organisation said: "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.

"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."

Born in Hong Kong, Moore played in the doubles main draw for Wimbledon and the US Open last year, as well as for the 2025 Australian Open. She reached the second round at Flushing Meadows, the first time she's been that far in a Slam since the 2022 French Open.

Moore also reached the second round of the singles draw at SW19 in 2016. She now won't be eligible to return to the sport until the 2028 season.

The ITIA have reacted the ruling, with chief executive Karen Moorhouse saying: "For the ITIA, every case is considered according to the individual facts and circumstances. 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."