Tennis Player Goncalo Oliveira Suspended for Doping: Claims Kiss as Cause
London – Professional tennis player Goncalo Oliveira, who represents Venezuela, has been suspended for four years by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) after testing positive for methamphetamine.
Oliveira’s provisional suspension occurred in January, following a test conducted in November 2024 during the ATP Challenger event in Manzanillo, Mexico. Both samples A and B of the player contained the prohibited substance.
The tennis player, born in Portugal, denied having consumed the drug and presented his defense before an independent tribunal. However, the tribunal determined that Oliveira could not prove that the presence of the drug in his body was involuntary.
Oliveira is given credit for the time served since his provisional suspension, which means he will be able to compete professionally again on January 16, 2029.
Oliveira reached his best doubles ranking in August 2020, reaching number 77 worldwide.
This case is reminiscent of similar situations in the world of sports.
French Olympic fencer Ysaora Thibus was exonerated in July by the Court of Arbitration for Sport from a doping accusation, after the judges accepted that she was contaminated with the anabolic substance Ostarine in 2024, due to kisses with her American partner for nine days. Subsequently, she was acquitted by a court of the International Fencing Federation weeks before the Paris Olympic Games, which allowed her to compete.
In 2009, Richard Gasquet avoided a lengthy doping suspension when the International Tennis Federation tribunal panel ruled that he had unintentionally consumed cocaine by kissing a woman in a nightclub.
