NEW YORK: The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) is launching a new pro-bono legal defence programme for players facing allegations of doping or corruption, the organisation said on Wednesday.
The PTPA, which was established by Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil in 2020 to advocate for players, will provide support through law firms King & Spalding LLP and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP to players regardless of their financial resources.
The announcement comes after world number one Jannik Sinner and five-times major winner Iga Swiatek fell foul of doping rules last year but spent little time off the court as they quickly cleared their names.
The saga left some lower-ranked players without vast financial resources jittery, as others alleged a double standard in how the sport’s doping cases are handled.
Former British doubles number one Tara Moore told Reuters she spent $250,000 in legal fees after she was provisionally suspended for 19 months for failing a drug test before being cleared of all wrongdoing in December 2023.
Moore was ranked 83rd in the world at the time her provisional suspension was announced in June 2022.
Moore, who co-founded the pro bono programme with the PTPA, expects her expenses will climb as the International Tennis Integrity Agency told her it would appeal an independent tribunal finding of no fault or negligence.
“This is a way to sort of help players that don’t have that resource kind of reach out and be like, okay, I do have support. I’m not alone in this. I don’t need to struggle by myself,” she said.
Under the programme, the PTPA will take an “initial intake” of each case and then connect players with legal counsel, helping them navigate what PTPA Executive Director Ahmad Nassar called “an opaque and deeply flawed legal system.”
Moore, who is working to get her ranking back up, hopes the programme will help other players who faced similar circumstances to her own.
“I went through an incredibly dark time when this happened, you know, I think if the people around me didn’t help, or they didn’t support me the way that they have done, I don’t know if I would be here because it’s depressing. It’s scary,” she said.
“You just never think that it’s ever going to happen to you.”
Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2025
