Ukranian tennis player Dayana Yastremska, who has been suspended for failing a dope test, has reportedly boarded a plane funded by Tennis Australia and headed to Melbourne.
The International Tennis Federation has slapped her with provisional suspension testing positive for the banned substance mesterolone metabolite. The anabolic agent, used to treat people with low testosterone, is on the prohibited substances list by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
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Yastremska has denied of any wrong doing and said that the positive test was a result of contamination.
Dayana Yastremska may be provisionally suspended after failing a drugs test but still appears to be on her way to Australia… pic.twitter.com/Ilsn71ZmIg
— George Bellshaw (@BellshawGeorge) January 14, 2021
“Only a very low concentration of mesterolone metabolite was detected in my urine,” Dayana Yastremska wrote in a statement. “Given that low concentration and my negative test two weeks earlier, I have received scientific advice that the result is consistent with some form of contamination event.”
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According to the ITF, the world No 29 has not exercised her right to appeal the ban yet.
Despite that, Yastremska has been spotted boarding a plane carrying players and officials to the Australian Open in a video posted by former Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. The Russian has deleted the video since.
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News agency AAP has reported that Tennis Australia has launched an investigation into the matter.
To add to the confusion, Yastremska is still on the entry list of the Australian Open, which is scheduled for a February 8 start.
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The only way that the 20-year-old may still be allowed to play is if ITF hears her appeal and clears her of any wrongdoing immediately. But if Yastremska is ineligible to play the Melbourne major it is unclear of who will bear the cost of her return journey.
