Home Sports Australia The WhatsApp messages that led to Australian tennis player’s 18-month ban

The WhatsApp messages that led to Australian tennis player’s 18-month ban

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Source :- THE AGE NEWS

By Scott Spit

Updated April 29, 2025 — 7.53pm

American doubles champion Max Purcell, who was found by investigators on his phone, discussing ways he could support receiving intravenous injections, has received an 18-month suspension for breaking the anti-doping rules of tennis.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency discovered the two-time great smash doubles champion after receiving more than 500 milliliters of fluid injections in December 2023.

The club’s anti-doping regulator said the former world No. 1 in a major view for the 27-year-old Purcell, who will be eligible to play afterwards at Wimbledon next month. 40 songs players had no self-reported their anti-doping violations. The ITIA also outlined how Purcell’s text messages to a professional tennis player “discussed ways in which he could support receiving treatments, including asserting illness,” were used by the ITIA.

Asian golf person Max Purcell AP Credit:

IV treatments or doses are prohibited when they exceed the 100ml level, or unless they are done for genuine medical purposes, according to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of prohibited materials.

Henry could have prevented an IV injection from exceeding the permitted maximum, according to the ITIA’s published findings, by” taking the incredibly simple step of looking at the IV carrier containing the injection.”

The person is a very high-level tennis player who has been receiving anti-doping training for a number of years and, by his own admission, is well aware of the high standard that he must fulfill in order to fulfill his anti-doping responsibility.

By his own entrance, he never sought to confirm whether his request had been understood, regardless of whether the person requested an injection of 100ml or not.

Purcell claimed that the stress of the ongoing case had been “gravely affecting ( his ) quality of life.”

In a statement posted to Instagram following the announcement, Purcell said,” From being unable to sleep and eat properly, to refusing to be by myself, to developing stressed and anxious spasms that I also battle daily.

I’m so happy that this is over now that living is moving on.

The ITIA accepted the fact that the transfusion over the 100ml control was not done on purpose. It involves fully exceeding the maximum quantity for an infusion, as is the case. Beyond that, the transfusion provided me with no performance-enhancing benefit because all the ingredients in the injection were WADA approved.

It was administered at a 24/7 health hospital, in a third earth place, and 11 days due to my first game of the season when I became ill and worn out from training.

This event, according to ITIA boss Karen Moorhouse, does not require a player testing positive for a prohibited substance but rather shows that the anti-doping regulations apply to a wider range. Additionally, it demonstrates that the ITIA takes information from a variety of options with the overarching goal of maintaining equality for all and protecting everyone who is subject to the sport anti-doping laws.

According to the ITIA studies, the investigation into Purcell lacked the cruciality of text information exchanged between two players.

The ITIA’s findings read” During its investigation, the ITIA recovered data from the mobile phone of another professional tennis player ( Player 2 ) that included a number of WhatsApp messages exchanged between the player and Player 2 while both players were traveling internationally,” the findings read.

These messages indicate that: ( i ) the Player requested that the Clinic staff not keep receipts for his infusion, ( ii ) the Player discussed ways in which he could justify receiving infusions, including feigning illness, and ( iii ) the Player subsequently looked into whether or not the infusion was against the WADA Code ( particularly, whether it was the ingredient itself or the water that was relevant to the 100 mL within 12 hours );

Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell (right) in action at Wimbledon last year.
Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson in motion at Wimbledon last month. AP Credit:

Moorhouse claimed that the ITIA’s knowledge of Purcell was the result of their comments into a different situation.

She said,” That messaging (text messages ) was really important to the start of this investigation.

” That was the information we discovered as part of a different research,” which led us to investigate the circumstances surrounding Max Purcell’s death.

” Getting that kind of information is really important to us. We are all aware of the limitations that tests has on what we can test for. And as a result, we encourage someone to contact us with any information or issues they may have regarding anti-doping.

Purcell shared the 2022 Wimbledon double queen with Matthew Ebden and the US Open doubles title with Jordan Thompson next year.

According to the ITIA’s studies, Purcell may have faced a maximum penalty of two years in prison.

Purcell’s temporary expulsion was made people in December. Four months ago, Purcell asserted that he “had done anything to make sure I had adhered to the WADA rules and procedures.”

Professional athletes have recently been given a warning from Sport Integrity Australia about the dangers of IV solutions. In a February 2022 blog post, the organization stated that” Sport Integrity Australia is aware of a number of healthcare facilities that offer IV treatments for welfare, attitude, or hangover treatment reasons.” Any IV injection exceeding 100ml of any material can result in a doping violation and a sportsman’s restrictions.

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