Lleyton Hewitt Suspended and Fined for Incident with Doping Control official
lleyton Hewitt, Australia’s Davis Cup captain and two-time Grand Slam champion, has been handed a two-week ban from all tennis-related activities and fined 30,000 Australian dollars (£14,600) after being found to have pushed a doping control official. The incident occurred following Australia’s Davis Cup semi-final loss to Italy in Malaga, Spain, last November.
Hewitt was charged in January by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) with offensive conduct towards a doping control official – a 60-year-old volunteer chaperone. He pleaded not guilty, claiming self-defense, but an independent tribunal ruled against him. The tribunal steadfast Hewitt’s actions “did not meet the requirements of self-defense” and that the push was “too strong or forceful and was excessive or disproportionate.”
The suspension will run from September 24th to October 7th. Importantly, the tribunal structured the ban to minimize disruption to Hewitt’s Davis Cup commitments, allowing him to captain Australia against Belgium in sydney from September 13th-14th.
Hewitt,who won the US Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002,has the right to appeal the decision,though the ITIA reports no appeal has been filed as of Wednesday.
“Anti-doping personnel play a fundamental role behind the scenes in upholding the integrity of tennis and they should be able to go about their roles without fear of physical contact,” stated ITIA CEO Karen Moorhouse. “In this case, that line was clearly crossed and we had no other option but to take action.”
