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04. 09. 09. - 16:00

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04. 09. 09. - 16:00

Blood-injecting tennis ace Paszek escapes doping ban

By Thomas Hochwarter

Austrian tennis star Tamira Paszek has escaped a doping ban despite having admitted she had her own blood injected as therapy.

The Austrian Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) announced last night (Thurs) it had decided to abandon investigation of the case.

Paszek, 18, revealed in a press conference in July that an Asian shrink had injected doses of her own blood and homeopathic extracts in a bid to ease her pain from an inter-vertebral disc injury.

NADA head Andreas Schwab explained there was a "lack of wrongdoing" by the athlete, noting the tennis talent had agreed to a method that was not allowed.

Paszek could have been banned for four years in the worst case, according to World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules.

The tennis player commented on the NADA decision: "I’m relieved and very happy that the matter has been cleared up. Now I can focus on the essential again – playing tennis."

Paszek, who to date has won one WTA tournament, added she could not say yet when she would be able to return to the WTA tour as she still felt pain in her back.

Investigations of disgraced ex-cyclist Bernhard Kohl and his former manager Stefan Matschiner, meanwhile, are continuing. Kohl, who finished last year’s Tour de France in third place, admitted blood doping and pledged to cooperate with investigators. And Matschiner, who was kept in investigative custody for five weeks in April and May, claimed he had paid workers at official WADA laboratories to check urine samples of athletes.

Austrian Times

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