Possession of a banned ped is sufficient for a suspension - he pleaded guilty to possession so it's irrelevant that he has not tested positive in terms of his situation with regards to violating the doping policy. (See the anti-doping website of the ITF for a clear as crystal statement in this regard.)
Since he's playing this week, apparently he's not going to be the sacrificial lamb. They are looking for a Pamela one is forced to deduce. Utterly depressing.

texastennis - he has not been exonerated. The ATP is still reviewing the case. Think of it this way - the ATP has NOTHING to gain by letting Odesnik off the hook. He makes them no money and he isn't any kind of draw.

They're going to hang him out to dry. I'm SURE of it.

cheryl,
Odesnik isn't defending his title in Houston. He lost to Lleyton Hewitt in the final last year. I doubt if he's ever won an ATP title. Maybe he's won a Challenger or something?

chr - right you are. Somehow I convinced myself that he won that final. Thanks for the correction. :)

I didn't say anything about his being exonerated. The ATP is NOT reviewing the case. It's an ITF matter. The ITF anti doping rules say explicitly that they take pleas in courts of law as admissions of guilt - so why didn't they suspend him on the day of the guilty plea? What are they reviewing now when they have the guilty plea already their own rules require? Presumably whatever his the dog ate my homework excuse is going to be. Baffling all around.

texastennis - originally it was the ATP making the inquiry (or so reports said). And as the article states, the guilty plea was for transport. The ITF will have to make a ruling of implication, namely that possession of the hormone automatically includes intent to use it.

My guess is that they are making sure they have all of their bases covered. It all comes back to this - why would the ITF or ATP want to protect Odesnik?

My curiousity over came me and I found this article which may help explain why Odesnik is still playing. This quote says it all: "The South African-born player is eligible to play until the ITF adjudication process is complete -- a process that was triggered by the resolution of his case in Australia. "

The link to this article is:

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=5058883

Hope this helps since the whole issue is confusing.

Cheryl, it is good to see that you have tackled this issue - thank you.

While I am grateful to fan4tennis for the link, I am every bit as confused as texastennis regarding where the ATP/ITF/what have you is with this right now. I agree entirely that the plea of guilty ought to trigger immediate suspension from the tour pending final sanction which, surely, need not take long in coming? Remember, Odesnik has already pled guilty in a court of law.

It frankly beggars belief that he is still out there. When the papers report on a lawyer or an accountant pleading guilty to defrauding clients, they're 'outta here' in an instant; ditto if a doctor or a dentist fesses up to assaulting clients under knockout gas. All that is awaited in those cases is confirmation of the final suspension/fine etc. Their regulating bodies have the authority to take them out on a same-day basis. Why hasn't this guy been removed post haste - do they feel that 'well, he's only an athlete, it's not a public confidence issue'? It's disgusting, and the governing body is going to have to move without delay to give itself the necessary authority to take these guys down.

Tennis has a big, big problem here. And it's going to get a ot worse when the sponsors start asking a few questions about it.

GoMuzza.... you should be punished for ESCAPING from the mental hospital!

Cheryl, many have tried but the admins at TT have allowed GM to clog up every thread with offtopic posts. GM's posts are offtopic in almost every sense along with personal attacks on the players and other posters, yet it is allowed? I kept checking yesterday and all but one thread had the last response by GM and for a long time, NO ONE ELSE WAS POSTING!!!! Does that tell you somethiing???? People are leaving this site and posting elsewhere just so they don't have to read this crap that TT allowed from GM!

Cheryl, many have tried but the admins at TT have allowed GM to clog up every thread with offtopic posts. GM's posts are offtopic in almost every sense along with personal attacks on the players and other posters, yet it is allowed? I kept checking yesterday and all but one thread had the last response by GM and for a long time, NO ONE ELSE WAS POSTING!!!! Does that tell you somethiing???? People are leaving this site and posting elsewhere just so they don't have to read this crap that TT allowed from GM!

An extract from the piece 'Not Everyone Surprised by Wayne Odesnik's HGH Bust' at tennisreporters.net:

'A fellow player, who wished to remain anonymous, told TR.net that the revelation was less than shocking.

?I?m not surprised about Wayne,? he said. ?We all had suspicions about three to four years ago. His upper body got huge at one point and his legs stayed skinny. He had zits all over his back. But it?s never worth all that risk.? '

How lucky for Wayne Odesnik that Martina Navratilova's breast cancer revelation today will place the tennis spotlight elsewhere right now.

Good luck, Martina - my sport needs more class acts like you.

f4t - the admins have sent GM a warning and I've deleted most of his recent comments. We want to make TT a place where everyone feels welcomed.


Cheers,

Cheryl

Really, Cheryl?! Yay, TT!! Looking forward to returning to snarky comments and analysis and not battling two-bit trolls.

<runs to hang up sword and shield>

Thank you so much Cheryl!!!

There's two ways of looking at Odesnik, neither are good:

The drugs were obviously for him. Why else would Odesnik be caught with PEDs in his baggage UNLESS he intended to take them?

I'll tell you why: He was the mule -- and the fall guy -- for other unknown better players.

I don't believe that this is the case here, but you never know. I think of a story a few years ago that involved the Carolina Panthers. Two players were nailed for transporting a huge amount of PEDs. The two players were the kicker and punter.

Now, anyone who knows anything about American football knows that the kicker and the punter are the LEAST LIKELY players to be taking PEDs (though they obviously could benefit from them). So, what was more likely the case was that other players on the team were using but used the two most seemingly innocent -- and easily disposable -- players to do their dirty work for them. Baseball players do that, too. No star player gets caught buying by the feds; it's always some scrub or better a trainer. Then if the sap gets pinched, the star has plausible deniability unless the sap squeals. Some do, some don't.

I'm not saying that this is the case for Odesnik, but then, I'm not saying it's not either.

I should think it's pretty clear - after all, why plead guilty if you can argue duress by a third party?

As faem's research indicates, Odesnik was in this for himself and in fact other tour players expressed their concerns about it - sotto voce.

THANKS A MILLION to TENNISTALK for "censoring" (if that's the right term) the ABUSIVE poster!

What concerns me is that he is still playing and winning, which means players that have been playing by the rules that he won against are screwed. What can the ITF do once they find him guilty and suspend or ban him? (Taking an assumption that they WILL find him guilty). It isn't like they can replay the tourneys he was in. I feel bad for the guys that are affected just by being unlucky enough to have to face him in a tourney.

Well said, fan4tennis. If I were let down by my professional body the way that the defeated Mr. Janowicz has been this week I'd be re-thinking my life entirely.

Utterly soul-destroying.

I see the tour has also fined Mr. Schwank, who lost to Mr. Chela yesterday by a score of 1-6, 7-6, 1-6, a sum of $1,000. Schwank claimed he was injured but was determined to play to a finish. But his final-set combination of lobs and drops antagonised the crowd as much as his opponent, and he was booed on match point.

Now, I am not saying that Mr. Schwank gave or didn't give a truthful account of his behaviour. But isn't it interesting that the fine was imposed virtually on the spot - while at the same time there's no dealing with Odesnik until some kind of civil investigation is completed?

I mean, really and truly!

gorafago - fines usually aren't a matter for arbitration...suspensions are. The one exception I can think of is the case of Serena Williams in last year's USO final. And that was only because they were making the decision whether to fine her OR possibly ban her for her outburst.

Thanks for the clarification, Cheryl.

However I am sure that, like me and like the people on Bleacher Report, you wonder if there there is no good reason why suspension cannot be made immediate. Surely he's looking at a minimum twelve months out?

I wonder if his suspension cannot be made exemplary, i.e. a longer ban in view of his unwillingness to step down voluntarily from the tour? In a court of law, a judge can certainly look at the behaviour of the parties in both civil and criminal matters - did they co-operate, did they plead, did they make the opposing party/district attorney go unnecessarily into matters of evidence, etc.

cheryl, could you do us all a HUGE favour and block this wh*** GoMuzzza. oh yeh, and his new IP address. lol

gorafago - If he's banned, I believe it will be for the full 2 years.

Thanks Cheryl.

Assuming this happens, I expect (and hope) that the ban will commence as and from the date of the regulating body's decision, and that it will not be back-dated in the least way.

just a brisk gossip before my bus arrives, to note that i was on guard when querrey was in trifle with odesnik in the final of the houston tennis tour 2010. i thought odey was quaint. very good with his approaches, nearly winning the match. i too remember him earlier in the match perturb/a disturb slight, because he brought defo nice new life to my day that day. cheers.

Tafa, where is your bus going to?

Hi there. Because I spent six hours already there at my friend's 'net' caf'e, I shall have to go HOME. I now don't ever get on the bus until I know someone, Before I'd ride anywhere, no matter far. Just ask Jeremy, my mate on facebook. Are you by any chance under the email website??
And I was wondering, does anybody know if Juan Monaco of Argentina married? I kinda get the drift he is. That boy gives me the creeps.
Apologies for taking the space.

Tafa, many's the boy that has given others the creeps, married or not. But if it matters, you can check player information on the ATP site for personal information. Good luck!

Read this in our newspaper today:
"The ITF will review rules that have prevented it from suspending Wayne Odesnik even after the American player pleaded guilty to importing growth hormones into Australia. Under current rules, the governing body of tennis can suspend only players who are being investigated for a failed drug test. Players cannot be suspended while they are being onvestigated for other doping violations, such as possessing a banned substance."

Think the ITF finally cracked under the bad publicity this gave them and the game of tennis?

Read this in our newspaper today:
"The ITF will review rules that have prevented it from suspending Wayne Odesnik even after the American player pleaded guilty to importing growth hormones into Australia. Under current rules, the governing body of tennis can suspend only players who are being investigated for a failed drug test. Players cannot be suspended while they are being onvestigated for other doping violations, such as possessing a banned substance."

Think the ITF finally cracked under the bad publicity this gave them and the game of tennis?

So ITF will review the rules? Do we know how long that will take?
And then what?

And what happens in the meantime?

I'm taking the meaning of what I read as there isn't much they can do with the Odesnik situation, but they realize that their (ITF) rules allowed such a situation to happen. Now they want to make sure it doesn't happen again in the future. I don't know for sure, but I'm betting they got alot of flak from the players and fans over the way they let Odesnik keep playing. What I read did not have a timetable on it tho but there might be news about it soon.

Thanks for your posts, f4t and mara. I am particularly obliged to f4t for throwing some light on this dismal situation. It appears, as I suspected, that the current rules are seriously remiss in not facilitating the immediate suspension of a player who is in breach of something other than an outright failure of drug testing procedures. I am astounded that this has not been covered to date. Whoever drafted the rules, or otherwise failed to spot the lacuna on a subsequent review, should be dropped from the list of consultants - if not sued for the serious loss of face caused by the current farce.

Tafa, say Hi to Jeremy for me. I am not on Facebook, life is complicated enough as it is, but do get Jeremy to vet your posts. With a name like that he is bound to be anglophone. Have you worked out of Monaco is a married man? If he creeps you, why try and find out anyway?

Olé! - whoops, I mean Vamos Rafalito!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! with an abundance of exclamation marks as always, not least as I am feeling generous after my manzanilla sherry tonight.

For those who spend hours gouging something magnetizing to their lives, It is stupendous.......to animate fulfill. Cruzing on no compulsions, independence. I know by now with any man, woman or child reflecting or believing they can make it through 'customs', dangerous substances tied or hidden wherever in their body is downright scary. Before you even take the step, is always a win to permit that last check, through all thy belongings, and is imperative. The old boring verb, alliteration, in our English language - the reminder!

I am grateful for the reply "gorafago"......I will,. The name or my name, T, means, action of or movement. I wish though with this gross level of mental development, and yes....for this one time only in my life I feel overwhelmed. Lastly, about Juan M, I am fascinated for it foretold was going with Lopilat'e breaking up mid 09, and may find it hard with all the miscellaneous occurings, y'know. No aggrezzion!,

Anyway, for me exclusively, If I get married already with children, straight away, I must give up the Good Times!! It's natural. Have a light one,.

The American tennis player Wayne Odesnik has accepted "a voluntary provisional suspension" from all events, and the International Tennis Federation hasn't said how long the suspension will last.
Last month, Odesnik pleaded guilty to importing human growth hormone into Australia before a tournament ahead of the Australian Open. He was fined 8-thousand dollars, but continued playing on the ATP tour, reaching the semi-finals of this month's US Clay Court Championships.
Under current rules, the ITF can only provisionally suspend players who are being investigated for a failed drugs test.