He decided to lay his cards on the table. This Wednesday, Marinko Matosevic wrote a press release published by The First Serve to reveal his use of a prohibited product. The Australian explained that he had been the subject of an investigation by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) since the 2024 Rome Masters.
The forty-year-old admitted to having used a “prohibited method” in February 2018 and he preferred to take the lead. “Even though the ITIA has no hard evidence of my wrongdoing, I have decided to admit what I did because of the corrupt process and the ridiculous nature of the other accusations,” he said.
In question and “in desperate circumstances” due to “health problems”, the former 39th world player “unwisely underwent a blood transfusion”. “I was so disgusted with myself that I retired the following week at 32 and a half,” he said.
“Artificial rules”
He said he did not touch a racket for the next two years. Matosevic initially felt the need to write this statement “to warn other athletes against any behavior that could harm their health and put their lives in danger.”
Also, the former top 40 at the ATP wanted to denounce the ITIA process, which he considers “corrupt and unfair”. “They confiscate your phone under threat and take legal action based on assumptions about photos and text messages that are literally more than five years old,” he said. These are artificial rules that are changed on a whim and to serve questionable purposes, they are neither moral nor fair! »
On the other hand, he refutes other accusations against him and indicated that he would stop responding to the ITIA and that he would not attend the hearing scheduled for next week.
