Wimbledon Focus On Drug Tests; Declares Out-Of-Competition Checking of Players

London: The Wimbledon Championship 2016, ‘scarred by a string of recent scandals,’ has declared on Tuesday that they are set to introduce an out of competition drug test. Wimbledon authorities said that this is a step forward to fight against anti-doping among players participating in the tennis championship.

“Wimbledon had discussed its plans with the ITF and will focus its attention on out-of-competition testing,” said International Tennis Federation in an email. The ITF is a major body in the Tennis Anti-Doping Program (TADF) and funds the organization too. Reports are, apart from ITF being the major funding body; Wimbledon will also subsidize the anti-doping squad.

In a statement declaring the anti-doping program, Wimbledon said: “In addition to the TADP In-Competition testing, the AELTC (All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club) will be implementing additional anti-doping measures for The Championships 2016.”

According to reports, an out of competition testing can be conducted any time of the year when the player is not performing into a tournament or league. Also, this is the best method, as considered by the sports-experts, to seize a doper.

The tennis anti-doping program, run by the ITF and is funded by the ATP Tour, WTA Tour, ITF and the four grand slams, including Wimbledon, said sources. However, players like Andy Murray have ‘called for vast increases’ in its funding requesting its transparency. With series of doping cases unveiled in the recent months, Russian five-time grand slam champion Maria Sharapova’s admission in the list has stirred the tennis world the most.