Cañas Cannot Play

Guillermo Cañas has been suspended from playing professional tennis as a result of testing positive for a banned diuretic. He has also been ordered to pay back $276,070 in prize money and his singles and doubles rankings will fall as he forfeits ranking points as part of the sanction. The fall in ranking won't really make a difference, since the Argentinian player won't be eligible to play until July 11, 2007.

The banned diuretic is hydrochlorothiazide. Diuretics by themselves have valid medical uses, but since they can prevent or inhibit the excretion of a banned substance via urine (i.e. act as a masking agent), they've been placed on the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned substances list. Diuretics have been implicated in anabolic steroid use, although Cañas did not test positive for that.

In the Davis Cup quarterfinal tie last month between Argentina and Australia, a group of Australian supporters called the Fanatics wore T-shirts that mocked the Argentinians as drug cheats. These T-shirts were emblazoned with the slogan "Where's Willie?" and a cartoon of Argentinian players at a needle exchange. This was a direct reference to Cañas's withdrawal from the tie due to the doping investigation.

posted by Noelle De Guzman @ 10:16 AM