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 in a doping control.
Oliveira’s provisional suspension occurred in January, after a test conducted in November 2024, during an ATP Challenger event in Manzanillo, Mexico, revealed the presence of the prohibited substance in his A and B samples.
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 was involuntary.
Due to the time already served under provisional suspension, Oliveira will be able to compete professionally again starting January 16, 2029.
In August 2020, Oliveira reached his best world ranking in doubles, ranking 77th.
This case is reminiscent of others in the world of sports.
French Olympic fencer Ysaora Thibus was exonerated in July by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) of a doping accusation. The judges accepted her argument that she was contaminated with the anabolic substance Ostarine in 2024 after kissing her American partner for nine days. Thibus was later acquitted by a court of the International Fencing Federation weeks before the Paris Olympics, allowing her to compete.
