POSTED: February 8th 2009
NewsUpdate
Federer backs tougher tests
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT / Sports Features Communications
LONDON: Roger Federer has stood up in favour of the tighter dope-test system being introduced by the International Tennis Federation.
The ITF is falling into line with the "whereabouts" concept now demanded by the World Anti-Doping Agency despite opposition expressed by newly-crowned Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal and by Britain's Andy Murray.
Federer, however, appreciates that All Olympic sports must be signed up to WADA and tennis can thus not be an exception. He said: "It's a tough system and a significant change from what we were used to before so I think it will take some time to get used to it.
"However this random testing is how you're going to catch the cheats. It's an hour a day they always need to know. I know it's a pain but I would like tennis to be a clean sport so I'm OK with it."
Dr Stuart Miller, head of the ITF's science and technical department, dimissed player complaints' about the inconvenience of random time and place checks.
He said: "There cannot be effective out-of-competition testing without player whereabouts. It is the cornerstone of effective control."
Keywords · tennis · WADA · Federer · Nadal · Murray
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