Argentine banned and fined for doping

Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela has been suspended from professional tennis for three months and thrown out of the world's top 500 for doping, the ATP said on Monday.

The 21-year-old, who finished 2000 ranked 67th in the world, must forfeit all ATP ranking points accumulated over the past eight months.

He must also forfeit the $8,550 earned at the 2000 Tennis Masters Series in Cincinnati, where he tested positive for methyltestosterone, a prohibited steroid under the anti-doping rules.

The loss of points means he will drop from his current ranking of 76 to outside the top 500 when his suspension ends at the beginning of July.

"For me, this has been a tremendous tragedy, as over the past eight months I already have been through some very rough times," Chela said.

"It has been devastating to my career. All my hard work has been virtually wiped away by the forfeiture of points, and I now must sit out three months before returning to play the lower-level pro events that I believed were behind me."

BANNED SUBSTANCE

A tennis anti-doping tribunal concluded that Chela, who represented Argentina at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, did not knowingly take the steroid.

"It's a tough yet fair decision given the circumstances," said Mark Miles, CEO of the ATP.

"It demonstrates again that our anti-doping programme is effective in both identifying violators and punishing them appropriately."

Chela added: "I appreciate the fact that the Tribunal, upon hearing my case, determined that I did not knowingly take a prohibited substance, and that I would never take steroids intentionally.

"As I told the Tribunal, my physician gave the banned substance to me in pill form. He told me that they were vitamins and amino acids."

The combined 11-month effect of points forfeiture and suspension will result in Chela losing more than 500 of his ATP Entry System points, leaving him with only 29 points in the computer system that determines which players gain direct acceptance into tournaments.

Chela's diminished points total will deny him direct acceptance into Grand Slams, ATP tournaments and ATP Challengers until he can accumulate additional points at entry-level Futures and Satellite tournaments.

Chela, a runner-up at Bogota in January and champion in Mexico City last year, could have been suspended for up to two years and forced to relinquish two years' worth of prize money and computer points.

The forfeiture of ATP Champions Race and ATP Entry System points will date back to August 7, 2000, the day he tested positive at the 2000 Tennis Masters Series Cincinnati.

Chela lost in the first round of that tournament to Sweden's Magnus Norman.