Tennis player is banned for four years after blaming a KISS for his failed drugs test

A tennis star who used kissing as his defence in his anti-doping case has been banned from playing for four years.

Goncalo Oliveira, who is a 30-year-old player from Portugal with a career-high singles ranking of 194, will not be able to compete until January 2029.

That’s after he tested positive for methamphetamine in November, before being provisionally suspended in January.

In his defence, Oliveira, who represents Venezuela, requested that a woman, whose name is not included in the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s decision statement, produced a witness statement.

The woman testified that she had kissed Oliveira after meeting him at a bar in Manzanillo. She said she had ‘consumed a pill which made me feel euphoria, agitation, confidence to socialise and in the moments a feeling of energy and joy.’

Oliveira said that the duo spent a long time kissing at the bar, and used that, as well as the other testimony, in his case with the ITIA.

When it was decided that the star should be suspended for four years, he requested a hearing with an independent tribunal.

The tribunal, however, ruled that after considering submissions from experts at the ITIA and Oliveira, as well as the woman’s testimony, the player did not prove that kissing was the source of the amphetamine, and upheld his ban.

In his heyday, Olivera reached No 99 in the men’s doubles rankings, and won his first  ATP Challenger Tour singles title at the inaugural edition of the 2024 Brazzaville Challenger – the first player representing Venezuela in 24 years.

But he will be 34 when he returns to playing, putting any further hope of success at other future competitions in doubt.