British tennis player Tara Moore has sued the WTA Tour for $20 million, claiming the organization failed to warn her about contaminated meat in Bogotá that led to her positive doping test. The 33-year-old, who is serving a four-year ban until 2028, argues the ban resulted from negligence during a 2022 tournament in Colombia. An independent tribunal initially cleared her, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the suspension after an appeal by the International Tennis Integrity Agency.
Tara Moore, a former British No. 1 in doubles with a career-high ranking of No. 77, tested positive for the banned anabolic steroids boldenone and nandrolone in May 2022 following a WTA 250 event in Bogotá, Colombia. She was provisionally suspended at the time and has maintained that the substances came from consuming contaminated beef or pork during her stay there.
An independent tribunal ruled in December 2023 that Moore bore no fault or negligence, exonerating her after 19 months. However, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). In July 2024, CAS sided with the ITIA, imposing a four-year ban minus the time already served under provisional suspension, making Moore ineligible until the start of the 2028 season. The CAS panel stated that Moore "did not succeed in proving that the concentration of nandrolone in her sample was consistent with the ingestion of contaminated meat" and failed to establish that the anti-doping rule violation was unintentional.
Moore filed the lawsuit on February 12, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, accusing the WTA of possessing "concrete, actionable knowledge" of contaminated meat risks in Bogotá but failing to warn players, unlike in other locations. Her legal team argues that CAS reversed the tribunal's decision by applying incorrect standards that presumed guilt. Moore has described the anti-doping system as "broken" and "subjective," stating on social media that the process has "broken me into so many pieces."
A WTA spokesperson responded: "The arbitration was conducted by a neutral arbitrator, and there is no basis to vacate the arbitrator’s award. We respect the judicial process and will not comment further while the matter is pending." The ITIA and CAS declined to comment. ITIA chief executive Karen Moorhouse noted that their appeal was based on independent scientific advice questioning the nandrolone levels.
Contaminated meat remains a concern in tennis; for instance, at the 2025 Mexican Open in Acapulco, the player restaurant served no meat to avoid doping risks. In the same Bogotá tournament, ATP player Robert Farah also tested positive but was cleared by the ITIA, which accepted his contaminated meat explanation.
