Sports (Commonwealth Union) _ British tennis player Tara Moore has received a ban from the sport, effective for a period of four years, following an appeal by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Moore was once Britain’s top-ranking women’s doubles player and had previously been suspended in May 2022, having tested positive for anabolic steroids nandrolone and boldenone during a WTA event in Bogotá. The provisional suspension dropped her from the tour for 19 months, during which she claimed significant emotional distress, loss of income, and damage to her reputation.
The tennis star was cleared in 2023 on the grounds of her defence that the positive doping test stemmed from contaminated meat that she had consumed during a tournament in Colombia. The independent court ruled that she had no fault or negligence, with contaminated food being a prevalent issue across South America.
Nevertheless, the ruling was challenged by the ITIA, calling into question the presence and high concentration of nandrolone in her system. Following a hearing in March 2025, CAS upheld the ITIA’s appeal, concluding that Moore had failed to prove her innocence beyond a reasonable doubt, specifically regarding the source of the nandrolone.
The CAS panel stated during a media release that Moore “did not succeed in proving that the concentration of nandrolone in her sample was consistent with the ingestion of contaminated meat”, confirming the official enforcement of a four-year ban instead of the original suspension.
The ban will consequently be in place until the start of the 2028 season, although Moore will be credited for the 19 months that were already served under her provisional suspension.
Chief executive of the ITIA, Karen Moorhouse, emphasised that the organisation did not take appeals lightly and that they had a high bar for appealing a “first-instance decision”.
Moore has repeatedly denied the claims, asserting that she has never knowingly taken any banned substances and returned to competitive tennis following the end of her suspension in 2024. The Briton resumed her tennis career on the ITF World Tour, aiming to regain her previous ranking.
Currently ranking 864th in singles and 187th in doubles, Moore’s return to the professional circuit included qualifying for the main draws of Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open over the past year. However, the ruling has disrupted her further progress, effectively sidelining her during the prime years of her career.
The decision made by the ITIA, along with the CAS ruling, brings significant attention to the ongoing strain between maintaining the integrity of professional sports and ensuring athletes are protected from unintended infractions. The case also emphasizes the risks of food contamination in anti-doping protocols, especially in countries where meat may legally contain substances that have been banned by international sports authorities.
Moore’s ban is expected to remain in place until early 2028 unless she successfully mounts a rare procedural appeal through Swiss courts.
