2/2 When we learned of the missed test, my team and I obviously tried to find out what had gone wrong. The system we had in place had worked pretty well - both for me, but also all the other top athletes my agent takes care of. And it goes without saying, that having had 2…
"Am I a casualty needed for the system to work?": Mikael Ymer releases lengthy statement with career under threat after ban
ATPTuesday, 25 July 2023 at 21:30
Amid his ban until 2025, Mikael Ymer has spoken out amid his three whereabouts failures meaning an anti-doping violation.
In a lengthy statement, he revealed details of the third incident that led to the suspension citing he believes unfair treatment from WADA.
Taking to Twitter, he described his struggle and frustrations and how he still doesn't know how he will proceed with it.
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"It's been unreal and some very difficult days for me. I'm trying to find the right way to process the news and work out how to proceed from here. In the meantime, I won't be making any comments or interviews. I would, however, like to put on record my experience with the 3rd incident that subsequently ended up resulting in the ban."
'It feels like a bad dream' - Ymer
He said that he was moved to a secondary hotel and WADA went to the main hotel so there was a mix up in that regard and he believes that compared to other cases, he was handled wrongly.
"After losing in the Paris Masters 1000 in 2021, I traveled to Roanne, France, to play a Challenger. I am usually booked into the main official hotel. However, when I tried to check in, it turned out I had actually been moved to the secondary hotel," he explained.
"At 6.55 I received 1 call from a Spanish number and I didn’t for a second think it was anything important. Besides, since I was 3 km away, it wouldn’t have made a difference anyway, as my available hour was ending at 7 and I couldn’t have made it to the main hotel in 5 minutes. It just happened to be, that WADA decided to show up for an out of competition test the following morning at the main hotel."
"Upon learning that I wasn’t at the hotel, and despite knowing that a player’s career was on the line, he decided to run down the clock until he called me. My attorney was able to prove that this exact handler had gone out of his way to find a different player at another event, and therefore it is clear that the “protocol” is only applicable if the handler so chooses."
"It feels like a bad dream. I don’t think justice has been served. I am 24 years old, at the prime of my career with a career-high ranking, and I have been banned for 18 months. Are we comfortable affecting young people’s livelihoods like this? Am I a casualty needed for the system to work? So why was I different?"
"I feel like this is an important case and important for other people to know the ins and outs. I’m sure my fellow colleagues on the tour are worried themselves, that one day it could be them. If this is the kind of thing, that can take a player off the tour, everyone is at risk. And if this happened to one of my colleagues, I would feel so bad on his or her behalf. Are we comfortable affecting young people’s livelihood like this? Am I a casualty needed for the system to work? I know for a fact that other players have been cleared after having had 3 strikes (last occasion was 2022), despite being very similar scenarios to mine. So why was I different?"
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