ITIA hands Portuguese player one-month ban for failed dope test

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has announced that a Portugues player has been handed a one-month ban after failing a doping test earlier this year. Frederico Ferreira Silva from Portugal failed an in-competition doping test in February earlier this year for banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ).

“The ITIA today confirms that Frederico Ferreira Silva, a 30-year-old tennis player from Portugal, has accepted a one-month suspension under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme, after testing positive for the prohibited substance trimetazidine (TMZ) during an in-competition test in February 2025,” said the statement.

According to the statement, the ITIA accepted the 30-year-old’s positive dope test was the result of contamination from the use of a prescribed medicine, Daflon 1000mg. The statement further stated that the player was not found guilty of the intake of a banned substance and was therefore offered a one-month suspension, which the player has accepted.

“The ITIA accepted that the positive test was caused by the contamination of a regulated prescription medication, and that the violation was therefore not intentional,” said the statement. “Findings for non-Specified Substances carry a mandatory provisional suspension – which took effect on 19 March 2025. The player exercised their right to appeal the imposition of a mandatory provisional suspension before an independent tribunal chair. Following testing at a WADA-accredited laboratory which confirmed the presence of TMZ in the player’s medication, verification by the ITIA’s own independent expert, and satisfactory documentation from the dispensing pharmacy, the provisional suspension was lifted.”

The statement continued: “In relation to Silva’s level of fault, as the contaminated product (Daflon 1000mg) was a regulated prescription medication, issued by a specialist sports medicine physician and purchased by the player’s national tennis federation following consultation, the player’s level of fault was considered to be very low. However, No Fault or Negligence was not applicable as a recall notice had previously been issued by the Agence nationale de sécurité du medicament (ANSM) due to known TMZ contamination of another Daflon product."

The statement concluded by stating that since the player was provisionally suspended earlier, he is now free to resume his activities on the tennis court. “As such, and in-line with other similar contaminated medication cases under the World Anti-Doping Code, the ITIA offered Silva a one-month suspension, which the player accepted on 15 September 2025,” said the statement. “As Silva had served longer than the period of ineligibility under provisional suspension while investigations and testing took place, the player is free to play.”