Indian tennis player Parikshit Somani is handed a four-year suspension after the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) rules he violated tennis’ anti-doping rules. Multiple outlets report the ban follows a positive test for a prohibited substance.
The ITIA says the substance is trimetazidine, a medication banned under anti-doping regulations. Reports also say Somani, 26, tested positive while competing in an ATP Challenger event in Astana, Kazakhstan, last year. Yahoo Sports and other outlets focus on the four-year duration announced by the ITIA.
Free Press Journal provides additional procedural context, stating Somani was provisionally suspended and that, during the period leading up to an independent tribunal hearing, he pursued an explanation involving possible contamination. It says the tribunal ultimately rejected the contamination theories as not scientifically convincing and found Somani did not establish the source of the prohibited substance, resulting in the full suspension through September 2029. India Today and NDTV similarly report the ban and the doping case, but with fewer details about the tribunal’s reasoning.