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 ATP spurns Olympic drug testers
Posted: Wednesday July 07, 1999 04:16 PM
GSTAAD, Switzerland (AP) -- The ATP prevented the Swiss Olympic Committee from making an unannounced drug test on Swiss players at the Swiss Open. The men's tennis tour and tournament organizers argued they have their own testing system and the Swiss committee had no rights over such an event. "We said, 'No, we have our own program,'" said Gerry Armstrong, the ATP tournament supervisor. The confrontation occurred Tuesday night when SOC tester Karl Knubel arrived and wanted to test two of the four Swiss players there -- 1992 Olympic champion Marc Rosset, Lorenzo Manta, Roger Federer and George Bastl. The ATP said the SOC might be allowed to conduct such tests in the future if they asked permission. "It would have been nice if they'd had the professional courtesy to ask our people before," tournament director Jacques Hermenjat said. "We don't inform our players when we plan to conduct our tests," Hermenjat added. "We inform the organizers but the players don't know it's happening." The power struggle has embittered the SOC, which calls the position of the ATP "legally and ... politically incorrect." "The commission and the SOC will have to examine the situation and take appropriate measures for the future," the SOC said. Hermenjat said the ATP was worried about the competence of the testers. "It was just a gentleman and a bag," Hermenjat said. "When we conduct tests we have a whole team and a lot of equipment. It is done professionally and properly." Hermenjat hinted the proposed drug test might be tied to the Tour de France, which is trying to free itself from last summer's drug scandal. "Right now every sport is trying to put the attention on the others when it comes to doping," Hermenjat said. "They definitely wanted to get some other sports involved. "These tests are the same week as the Tour de France. It's probably the thing to do." The tournament director also objected to tests being limited to Swiss players. "It is discrimination just to choose two Swiss players for testing," Hermenjat said. "In the ATP we test players who are drawn at random." ATP drug rules stipulate all players must be treated equally at tournaments. The ATP also contends recent tests already had been done, and there was no need for this one. "I don't know who it would benefit," Hermenjat said. "We've had a lot of tests this year and tennis is a very clean sport."
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