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Doping controversies cast shadow over Argentine successes
(China Daily/Agencies)
Updated: 2005-10-13 06:12
BUENOS AIRES: Laxity over anti-doping rules has landed Argentine tennis
players in hot water.
A two-year ban imposed on Guillermo Canas in August and last week's case of
Mariano Puerta, who faces the first lifetime suspension in tennis if found
guilty of what would be a second offence, have cast a shadow over the successes
of the "Argentine Armada."
"The only negligence I admit to is that of not having checked what I was
taking," Canas told Reuters in a recent interview.
Canas tested positive for the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) at the
Acapulco tournament in Mexico in February. He has appealed to the Swiss-based
Court for Arbitration in Sport (CAS).
He was world No 10 at the time of his suspension in August.
Canas' physical trainer Fernando Cao was quoted by L'Equipe as saying: "We
are Latinos. So we have a different personality from Europeans or Americans.
"We tend to take rules lightly. So we take less care than others. But that's
not an excuse. Quite the contrary, we have to be more responsible and not leave
things to chance."
He said that in Canas' case, his entourage had made a
mistake.
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