France’s Richard Gasquet cleared of doping charges
French tennis player Richard Gasquet (pictured), who tested positive for cocaine in March, has been "exonerated of any fault or negligence" and cleared of any doping offence by the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport).
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AFP - The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday cleared French tennis player Richard Gasquet of doping and dismissed appeals by sports authorities for a tougher penalty.
"The player has been exonerated from any fault or negligence and the CAS has dismissed the appeals filed by the ITF (International Tennis Federation) and WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency)," CAS said in a statement.
Gasquet, a former top 10 player and a Wimbledon semi-finalist, had been provisionally suspended in May after testing positive for cocaine at the Miami Masters in March before serving a two and a half month retroactive ban.
The 23-year-old got back into the game in late August before the US Open after last playing on April 30.
The ITF - moving against it's own anti-doping tribunal which found in the player's favour after Gasquet said traces of the drug came from a girl he kissed in a Miami club - and WADA had been asking for a ban of one or two years.
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