PierreC
01-17-2005, 10:15 AM
By Julian Linden
MELBOURNE, Australia (Reuters) - Three players at the center of doping allegations in Belgium -- Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva and Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy -- on Sunday denied any knowledge of or involvement in the scandal.
Belgian sports minister Claude Eerdekens inadvertently pointed the finger at the trio when he told Belgian news agency Belga on Saturday that a player had failed a doping test at an exhibition tournament in Charleroi last month.
Only four players took part in the event and Eerdekens said one of them, Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne, had been cleared.
"Our policy is not to reveal the name of the athlete before the end of the complete procedure, but I can say that Henin-Hardenne is not concerned at all in this," Eerdekens said.
He added that details of the positive test had been forwarded to the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the Belgian Tennis Federation and the player's national body.
He also said the player concerned had been notified but Kuznetsova, Dementieva and Dechy, preparing for Monday's start in the Australian Open, all denied knowledge on Sunday.
"I haven't heard anything. Nobody has contacted me," world number five Kuznetsova told Reuters.
SIMILAR COMMENT
Sixth-ranked Dementieva, who was runner-up to Kuznetsova at last year's U.S. Open and also a finalist at the 2004 French Open, made a similar comment.
"I don't know anything about it," she said. "They didn't speak to me, so it wasn't me." Dechy said: "We had an unexpected test (in Belgium). They told us that, if there was a problem, they would contact us two or three weeks later
"I haven't heard anything and nor have the French Federation. I think I am clean. I have no idea about the others."
Henin-Hardenne, who battled a mystery illness for most of last year, has pulled out of her title defense at the Australian Open because of a knee injury.
However, her husband and manager Pierre-Yves told Belgian Web Site Le Sport en Ligne he had heard about last month's doping test.
"It's a load of nonsense really," he was quoted as saying. "But I'd prefer not to say anything more because it's a very delicate subject."
DOPING ALLEGATIONS
The ITF and the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) said they were unaware of the doping allegations, as did the Russian and French tennis federations.
The Belgian tennis federation could not be reached for comment on Sunday.
"Nobody has informed the ITF so we cannot comment. If there was a positive, then we would expect the ITF would be informed," an ITF spokesperson told Reuters.
"It's not one of our cases and, even if it were, we would be bound by the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) regulations."
The WTA's director of communications, Darrell Fry, said he doubted the claims.
"We're very surprised that there's even an allegation because our players are very committed to having a clean sport," Fry said.
"We've not been notified by anyone... so we are presuming innocence. "At the moment, we feel it's a Belgian government issue and hasn't got anything to do with us because it wasn't carried out by our anti-doping testers."
MELBOURNE, Australia (Reuters) - Three players at the center of doping allegations in Belgium -- Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva and Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy -- on Sunday denied any knowledge of or involvement in the scandal.
Belgian sports minister Claude Eerdekens inadvertently pointed the finger at the trio when he told Belgian news agency Belga on Saturday that a player had failed a doping test at an exhibition tournament in Charleroi last month.
Only four players took part in the event and Eerdekens said one of them, Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne, had been cleared.
"Our policy is not to reveal the name of the athlete before the end of the complete procedure, but I can say that Henin-Hardenne is not concerned at all in this," Eerdekens said.
He added that details of the positive test had been forwarded to the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the Belgian Tennis Federation and the player's national body.
He also said the player concerned had been notified but Kuznetsova, Dementieva and Dechy, preparing for Monday's start in the Australian Open, all denied knowledge on Sunday.
"I haven't heard anything. Nobody has contacted me," world number five Kuznetsova told Reuters.
SIMILAR COMMENT
Sixth-ranked Dementieva, who was runner-up to Kuznetsova at last year's U.S. Open and also a finalist at the 2004 French Open, made a similar comment.
"I don't know anything about it," she said. "They didn't speak to me, so it wasn't me." Dechy said: "We had an unexpected test (in Belgium). They told us that, if there was a problem, they would contact us two or three weeks later
"I haven't heard anything and nor have the French Federation. I think I am clean. I have no idea about the others."
Henin-Hardenne, who battled a mystery illness for most of last year, has pulled out of her title defense at the Australian Open because of a knee injury.
However, her husband and manager Pierre-Yves told Belgian Web Site Le Sport en Ligne he had heard about last month's doping test.
"It's a load of nonsense really," he was quoted as saying. "But I'd prefer not to say anything more because it's a very delicate subject."
DOPING ALLEGATIONS
The ITF and the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) said they were unaware of the doping allegations, as did the Russian and French tennis federations.
The Belgian tennis federation could not be reached for comment on Sunday.
"Nobody has informed the ITF so we cannot comment. If there was a positive, then we would expect the ITF would be informed," an ITF spokesperson told Reuters.
"It's not one of our cases and, even if it were, we would be bound by the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) regulations."
The WTA's director of communications, Darrell Fry, said he doubted the claims.
"We're very surprised that there's even an allegation because our players are very committed to having a clean sport," Fry said.
"We've not been notified by anyone... so we are presuming innocence. "At the moment, we feel it's a Belgian government issue and hasn't got anything to do with us because it wasn't carried out by our anti-doping testers."