Tara Moore has been issued with a four-year doping ban after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled she failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove her positive test in 2022 was accidental.
The former British No.1 in doubles had been involved in a lengthy legal battle. In May 2022, Moore tested positive for nandrolone and boldenone whilst competing in a tournament held in Bogota, Colombia. As a result, she was issued with a provisional suspension for over a year before attending an independent hearing.
During Moore’s appeal in December 2023, she argued that the source of her positive test was contaminated meat she consumed. It was then accepted that she “bore no fault or negligence”, which enabled her to resume playing on the Tour again. The appeal was conducted by an independent tribunal in accordance with tennis’ Anti-Doping Programme. In a statement issued shortly afterwards, she described her ordeal as “19 months of lost time and emotional distress.”
However, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) then issued an appeal against the decision that she was not responsible for the positive test in January 2024. More specifically, they questioned how the amount of nandrolone entered her system.
Following a hearing at the CAS between 13 and 14 March 2025, a majority ruling has sided with the ITIA and subsequently reimposed Moore’s four-year ban (19 months of this have already been served and will be deducted). She will not be allowed to play again until 2028.
“After reviewing the scientific and legal evidence, the majority of the CAS Panel considered that the Player did not succeed in proving that the concentration of nandrolone in her sample was consistent with the ingestion of contaminated meat,” CAS said in a statement.
“The Panel concluded that Ms Moore failed to establish that the ADRV was not intentional. The appeal by the ITIA is therefore upheld and the decision rendered by the Independent Tribunal is set aside. The cross-appeal filed by Ms Moore was declared inadmissible.”
Karen Moorehouse, who is the ITIA’s chief executive, says the ruling is consistent with their ‘scientific advice’ that Moore failed to sufficiently explain the level of nandrolone in her system at the time.
“For the ITIA, every case is considered according to the individual facts and circumstances,” said Moorehouse.
“Our bar for appealing a first instance decision is high, and the decision is not taken lightly. In this case, our independent scientific advice was that the player did not adequately explain the high level of nandrolone present in their sample. Today’s ruling is consistent with this position.
“We understand that players and their support teams may have questions about this decision, and we will answer these fully once we have reviewed the details of the ruling.”
Moore is yet to issue a public statement following the CAS ruling, but has always maintained her innocence throughout the case. She has previously criticised the treatment and lack of support she has received.
“It is a difficult process. [The ITIA] can appeal for no reason whatsoever, so it’s not like they have to have new evidence,” Moore said on The First Serve’s ‘The Grind’ podcast earlier this year.
“For me, it’s not fair. It’s not even slightly in the athlete’s favour. This is in your system, you need to figure it out. You have these people judging you, that have never met you.”
Anti-doping has been a big topic in the sport over recent months following the high-profile cases of Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek. Both of those players’ positive tests were caused by some form of contamination. Swiatek served a 28-day ban with her degree of fault being at the lower range. Meanwhile, Sinner was suspended for 90 days following a case settlement between WADA and his legal team.
In these two cases, it was concluded that there was no evidence of intentional doping or consuming a banned product. Their suspensions were related to their level of responsibility in ensuring they don’t come in contact with a prohibited substance.
