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Former world No. 7 suspended two months for the presence of the ADHD medication, methylphenidate, in a urine sample after forgetting to renew TUE.
Fernando Verdasco has accepted a two-month suspension after forgetting to renew his Therapeutic Use Exemption and failing a doping test.

The 38-year-old Spaniard acknowledged the presence of the ADHD medication, methylphenidate, in a urine sample. Vedasco accepted a voluntary provisional suspension and will serve a two month suspension, the International Tennis Integrity Agency announced today.

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Former world No. 7 Verdasco was tested at an ATP Challenger event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in February 2022.

Verdasco admitted the Anti-Doping rule violation and explained that he had been medically diagnosed with ADHD and legitimately used methylphenidate as medication prescribed by his physician to treat the condition in accordance with a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE), but had forgotten to renew his TUE when it expired.

Since the finding, there has been an ongoing TUE re-application process involving the player, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the ITIA. The player has been granted a new TUE by WADA for his medication moving forwards, and has withdrawn from the retroactive TUE process to resolve this case.

The ITIA said it "accepts that the player did not intend to cheat, that his violation was inadvertent and unintentional, and that he bears No Significant Fault or Negligence for it. In the specific circumstances of this case, based on the player’s degree of Fault, the TADP allows for the applicable period of ineligibility to be reduced from two years to two months."

Verdasco's two-month suspension will conclude on Sunday, January 8, 2023.

Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve