The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has confirmed that the Romanian Anti-Doping Agency has imposed a lifetime ban on Laurenţiu Basarab for administering methandienone, a prohibited substance under Section S1.1(a) (Endogenous androgenic anabolic steroids) of the 2014 Prohibited List, to a minor. The steroid was administered to 16-year old Elena Mădălina Căpraru, whom Basarab – a former player – coaches.

‘Administration of a prohibited substance constitutes an Anti-Doping Rule Violation under article 2.8 of the World Anti-Doping Code’, read an ITF statement. ‘As a Signatory to the WADA Code, the ITF (and, therefore, its member National Associations) is obliged to recognise and respect decisions of other Code Signatories that are consistent with the Code and within that Signatory’s authority (Article 15.4).’

Methandienone is a steroid developed in Germany in the 1960s. It is a controlled substance in Western Europe and the United States, however continues to be manufactured and is available in Eastern European countries. The ITF also confirmed its support for the Romanian Anti-Doping Agency’s one-year ban on Căpraru yesterday.