Tennis player Goncalo Oliveira, who hails from Portugal but represents Venezuela on the court, recently received a four-year ban after testing positive for methamphetamine during the Manzanillo Open in Mexico last November. The 30-year-old athlete claimed that his positive result was due to “contamination via kissing or environmental contamination,” but an independent tribunal did not find enough evidence to support his assertion.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) stated that Oliveira’s ban includes forfeiting any results, prize money, and ranking points from the event where he tested positive, as well as all subsequent events he participated in between the date of the test and the imposition of his provisional suspension. Oliveira was issued a provisional suspension in January after being notified of a potential anti-doping rule violation and subsequently defended himself by recounting an encounter with a woman at a bar who had consumed a “recreational drug.”
The tennis player explained that he was unaware of the woman’s drug use at the time and only discovered it after contacting her following his positive test. Oliveira requested a hearing, which took place in London in September, resulting in his suspension until January 16, 2029. During this period, he is prohibited from playing, coaching, or attending any ITIA-sanctioned events. Oliveira, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 194 in 2017 but has since dropped to No. 460, has won 18 titles on the ATP Challenger Tour and ITF Futures Tour but has yet to compete in a Grand Slam event.
