ITF lifts bans on Belgian players Wickmayer and Malisse

Belgians Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse can return to the tennis circuit after their one-year doping suspensions were lifted, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said yesterday.

The ITF consulted with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and its own counsel after a Belgian court on Monday suspended the bans imposed by the local doping agency, citing administrative errors.

An ITF statement said the governing body was "required to give wider recognition to decisions within the authority of other signatories (to the WADA Code).

"...accordingly the ITF has removed both Mr Malisse and Ms Wickmayer from the list of suspended players, and both are eligible to participate with immediate effect."

Wickmayer, 20 and a US Open semi-finalist in September, was banned last month after failing to notify her country's anti-doping agency where she could be reached.

Malisse, a former Wimbledon semi-finalist, was also suspended for a year for missing a doping test.