The name of Mikael Ymer is in the news after being suspended for 18 months after skipping an anti-doping control three times. But what exactly happened this last time? The Swede has explained it perfectly this Tuesday through the following statement.
“It has been an unreal and very difficult few days for me. I’m trying to figure out the correct way to process the news and figure out how to proceed from here. In the meantime, I will not do any comments or interviews. However, I would like to record my experience with the third incident that subsequently led to my ban.
As I explained in my opening statement, I was initially acquitted by an independent three-judge panel established by the ITF. I argued that my third foul was not a crime, since I was exactly where I thought I was. The court agreed with me and cleared me after wrongdoing, but the ITF felt compelled to appeal to CAS. This was completely disappointing, the ITF is supposed to protect our sport and its participants. I imagine they would be happy to know that an independent court decided that there was no reason to go ahead with this punishment.
Let me first explain how the whereabouts system works. Every day of the year I have to report where I can be available to WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) for one hour a day. As an athlete, there are many last minute changes regarding the location, due to results, changes in plans, travel, etc. I’m constantly getting tests, but you never know when they might show up. Of course, all my tests have come back negative without any problem.
I understand that this system was put in place to help keep our sport clean, but it is a vigorous and slow system. I have been fortunate to have had help with this throughout my career. Like many players, my agent has been making my hotel reservations and making sure my whereabouts are up to date, so I can focus on being my best on the tennis court. And this time it was no different.
After losing at the Paris Masters 1000 in 2021, I traveled to Roanne, France to play a Challenger. Often the tournament has a main hotel and a secondary one. I am usually booked into the main hotel and this was confirmed by my agent. However, when I tried to check in, it turns out that I had actually been put up at the secondary hotel, which is an eight minute drive from the main hotel. This is not uncommon, so I didn’t think twice and went to the secondary hotel with no problem. As it happened, the AMA decided to show up for an out-of-competition test the next morning at the main hotel. The hotel where I tried to check in a few hours earlier, yes. Well, I was rejected.
When I’m at tournaments, I know that the hotel is a safe area for me. If WADA decides to show up, then I should get a phone call to my room and then they’ll come. I always set my daily availability time between 06:00 and 07:00 in the morning, since I know for sure that I will be in my room at that time. At 06:55 I received a call from a Spanish number, but I didn’t think it was anything important. I get tons of spam calls and there I was in my safe zone at the tournament hotel. Also, as it was 3km away, it wouldn’t have made any difference anyway, as my available time ended at 07:00 and I couldn’t have reached the main hotel in five minutes.
Finding out that I was not at the hotel and despite knowing that a player’s career is on the line, they decided to wait until they called me. At my hearing, they stated that this is protocol, that they were not required to make an effort to contact me until five minutes before my time was up. But at my hearing, my attorney was able to prove that this controller had gone out of his way to find a different player at another event and that it is therefore clear that the protocol is only applicable if the controller chooses to do so.
When we found out about the missing test, my team and I tried to figure out what had gone wrong. The system we had in place had worked quite well, both for me and for all the elite athletes my agent takes care of. Needless to say, after having had two strikes and knowing the seriousness of the consequences, we had this issue as a top priority. My agent had booked me into the main hotel and had received an email confirming that this request had been made. When the tournament moved me to a different hotel, my agent did not receive an email, which is always standard. This was confirmed by the IT technicians, who were able to trace the fingerprints and prove that no mail had in fact been sent to my agent. Therefore, my agent had no reason to change my whereabouts. In the meantime, I thought I was supposed to be at the secondary hotel and my agent found out about it too.
I understand that as an athlete with obvious advantages comes some responsibility and I fully accept that. From my point of view, there was nothing we could have done differently regarding this third offense. I’m not sitting here feeling like “if only I had done this differently…”. I followed our system and trusted my agent, as I have for years. A system that worked for me and many other athletes. There was no negligence or carelessness. The independent court of arbitrators understood this and acquitted me. For some reason the ITF and CAS saw it differently, despite the evidence we presented and our explanations. They concluded that a suspension was warranted and that they should have acted differently.
I am 24 years old, in the prime of my career with a career high ranking, but now I am suspended for 18 months. Suspended, not for gaining an illegal competitive advantage over my peers, nor for bringing the game into disrepute, nor for gaining illegal financial gain, but for a logistical technicality that I had no reasonable way to avoid.
It’s all like a bad dream. I don’t think justice has been done, neither with the decision itself, nor with the subsequent sanction, which seems to me completely disproportionate compared to other suspensions that have been handed down in recent years. All I want to do is try to be the best tennis player I can be and make the most of my career in the limited time I have to compete professionally. An 18 month ban is de facto a three year ban as it will take me a long time and considerable effort to get my ranking back and also the level I was at now as I will have to start from scratch. And there is no guarantee that you will succeed in trying.
I feel like this is an important case for other people to know the ins and outs. I’m sure my tour mates are worried too, it could one day happen to them. If this is the kind of thing that can happen to a player on tour, everyone is at risk. And if this happens to one of my colleagues, I would feel really bad for them. Am I just a necessary victim for the system to work? I know for a fact that other players have been cleared after having three strikes, despite being in scenarios very similar to mine. So why has it been different with me?
Finally, I want to thank all the positive messages I have received from all over the world. It means a lot to me and I really appreciate it. I look forward to seeing everyone back on the slopes in the future.”
2023-07-25 16:32:42
#negligence #carelessness
