As Pam Shriver said yesterday the bad part of the Agassi drug admission is not that it happened but that he lied and the ATP appears to have assisted in perpetrating that lie. Here is an article from the online Guardian that lays the issue out from a drug testing point of view.
The tennis authorities are have been asked to investigate "the possibility of perjury" or a "breach of the law" by Andre Agassi following the former Wimbledon champion's admission that he lied in a letter to the ATP after he tested positive for crystal meth in 1997.
David Howman, the director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency, is to write to the ATP and the ITF because he believes "this is not a dead issue".
The move comes after more damaging revelations emerged last night in which Agassi declares that his father, Mike, asked him to take the illegal amphetamine, speed, before playing and that he took it.
...his brother, Phil, warned him that the pills their father was giving the player were not simply caffeine, but speed.
"One night, Phil asked me to promise him something: 'Don't ever let Paps give you any pills to take'," writes Agassi of his brother's advice in an extract of the book which is being serialised in the German newspaper Bild.
"The pills are something else...speed. They are really tiny, white and round. Don't swallow them, no matter what happens. "
Agassi, however, still took the tablets handed to him by his father before a national tournament in Chicago. "This will help you. Swallow it. He puts the pill in my hand. Tiny, white, Round. I swallow it and I feel good. Not much different. A bit more alert.
Agassi writes that his father was giving him caffeine pills before every match to boost his performances.
(...)
"Wada's position is simple," said Howman. "The tennis authorities should investigate a possible breach of the law by Agassi, if he lied on oath about this, and also a possible breach of the law by his lawyers. If his lawyers knew at the time he was lying, then that is extremely serious.
"There are limitations over what he can do, but we don't believe this is a dead issue. We believe the authorities should be investigating the possibility of perjury."
Wada are due to send out letters to the authorities this week.
I'm not quite sure what reaction the Agassi camp thought it would get but I'm sure this was not on the list.
7 comments:
WOW! I bet there are quite a few former "Agassi camp" folks hiding under their desks about now! This story just keeps on giving......
Please check this link out! Bodo has lost the plot! Apparently anyone who is outraged at Agassi is just jealous. He can keep Vegas! Also he takes a pot shot at Pete Sampras! Well I'm sorry we haven't found the crystal meth under Pete's bed just yet, if we do does that make him a more worthy and exotic character in Peter Bodo's eyes?
http://tennisworld.typepad.com/tennisworld/2009/11/agtassi.html
If nothing is done to Agassi and the tennis community tries to erase any comments, well they can guarantee WADA will crucify them. The IOC might kick them out of the Olympics, that might be a bridge too far…
The IOC will probably be asking for the Gold medal back that Andre won in 1996. Would it bother him if Wimbledon revoked his lifetime membership? Well they still haven't forgiven McEnroe. Also next year when I'm watching Wimbledon I wonder if the vitriol that was laid at Women's tennis will be as harsh for Mr Agassi and his contemporaries?
Matt Cronin, how can you work for Fox but anyway… here's Matt's take http://msn.foxsports.com/tennis/story/10299990/In-his-new-book,-Agassi-on-journey-to-find-himself
What does Andy Murray's statement of support have to do with heroin addiction in public housing in Scotland? Did Andy Murray live in public housing? Did he use heroin? It seems he expected the players to rally around Agassi.
I said before that Sampras was never really one of the favorites. When it became obvious that Pete was still of sound mind and body and managing to win he all of a sudden became an icon.
By posting the following the author shows that he is intentionally missing the point.
"I'll leave consideration of the failed drug test, Agassi's letter, and the ATP's subsequent actions for another time."
That is the only point.
I have nothing to say about the post by the man who writes for Fox.
Dearg the commentary next year is going to be fascinating to say the least. I don't think WADA is going to back down at all. Everyone knows how strict the IOC is about drug testing. And the ATP, to quote "Ricky Ricardo" has a lot of 'splaining to do.
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