By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennisnow | Friday, February 21, 2025
Photo Credit: Corleve/Mark Peterson
Bad beef is the key to setting Nicolas zanellato free from temporary suspension.
World no. 754 Zalatto, who has served a temporary suspension since last August after failing a doping test, has the right to return to play shortly after trying his positive test for Boldenone came from swallowing the contaminated Colombian calf.
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Following an investigation, which included interviews, reviewing detailed documentation and advice from independent scientists approved by WADA, International Tennis Integrity Agency found that Zanellato “had no fault or neglect for violating his anti-doping rule”.
Zanellato, who reached a single -world single career in April 2024, provided a sample in competition while competing at an ATP Challenger event in Ibagué, Colombia, on June 25, 2024.
Boldenone, a prohibited steroid, is commonly used in the Colombian cattle industry to promote the growth of animals before slaughter. Boldenone is legal in Colombia, which is where Zanellato ate contaminated beef at a restaurant.
Zanellato has been temporarily suspended since August 12, 2024, after successfully appealing his case to an independent court chair on August 22.
Since then, Zanellato then received further evidence and documentation in support of his issue. This test “included detailed invoices and information on the source of meat consumed during a number of visits to an independent restaurant outside the tournament,” Itia said.
ITIA conducted its parallel investigation into the case and concluded “The explanation was verified as reliable by independent scientific experts”.
If this case sounds surprisingly family do not worry, you do not have a reaction caused by Boldenone.
Back in 2020, ITF reset Co-World No. 1 Robert Farah After accepting his claim by eating contaminated meat in his birth colomb led him to fail a doping test.
Robert Farah, like Zanellato, was temporarily suspended after positively tested for Boldenone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7eg_oixrfy
Farah, who ate a beef dinner cooked by his mother, provided invoices to try his case. Farah showed his passport and the flight record bills as evidence he was in Colombia before his positive test. His mother produced the receipt of her beef buying supermarkets two days before her son’s arrival, the market manager proved that the beef came from a cattle company in Northern Colombia and Ranchers from the Plant proved that they used Boldenone routinely in cattle .
A moral of both stories: Pro Tennis Be careful by eating meat in Colombia and if you do it, then make sure you store your recipes.
