LONDON, January 8, 2026 (ITIA Media Release)

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld the first instance independent tribunal’s decision in the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (TADP) case of Romanian tennis player Irina Fetecău, maintaining a 10-month period of ineligibility imposed in April 2025.

An appeal hearing was held by the CAS via video conference on 15 September 2025, following which the CAS panel dismissed Fetecău’s appeal to reduce the length of their suspension, as well as an ITIA cross-appeal.

29-year-old Fetecău, who reached a career-high world singles ranking of 207 in December 2021, tested positive for the prohibited substance 4-Methylpentan-2-amine, a stimulant, after consuming a contaminated pre-workout ‘Gorillalpha Yeti Juice’ supplement. While the facts were not in dispute, Fetecău’s appeal centred on the length of the sanction, which was issued under a finding of No Fault or Negligence.

In its written decision, issued on 18 December 2025, the CAS tribunal determined that “the athlete is not a cheater, but did not live up to her duty of care in preventing her ingestion of the Prohibited Substance”, and that “a period of ineligibility of ten months is the appropriate sanction in this case.”

As such, Fetecău’s suspension remains unchanged, beginning on 25 April 2025 – the date of the first-instance written decision – and ending on 24 February 2026.

During the period of ineligibility, Fetecău is prohibited from playing at or attending any tennis event authorised or sanctioned by the funders of the ITIA (ATP, ITF, WTA, Tennis Australia, Fédération Française de Tennis, Wimbledon and USTA) or any national association.