Novak Tested For 5 Hours During Doubles Davis Cup Match

I don't know how many of you followed what went on a few weeks leading to Davis Cup final, but here is a brief summary:

After seeing Marin Cilic who tested positive have his ban reduced to just 4 months, Viktor Troicki and his Davis Cup team-mates, including Davis Cup Captain were very hopeful he would be given the same treatment.

In fact, I was on the same plane with Slobodan Zivojinovic (a former 80s top 10 player from Belgrade, Nick  Lester and James Keothavong were on the same flight as well) from Belgrade to London on the 16th of September, Zivojinovic was going to hold talks there and plead on Troicki's behalf.

We all know what happened: Troicki's ban was reduced to such a comical degree that he'll only be allowed to play in July 2014.

That obviously caused an outrage in Serbian tennis circles, and Novak, being the most prominent figure decided to speak out and express his strong displeasure.

John Fahey, WADA's president then came out with this condesending statement:

"I don’t think Novak Djokovic has the faintest idea what we do and if he wants to understand what we do I’m more than happy to pick up the phone and talk to him, if he wants to talk to me. If he wishes to then make a comment I might listen to him but for the moment I don’t think that was an informed statement."


Seeing that he obviously had nothing to lose, especially the way Troicki's appeal case panned out, Novak fired back a sharp, and very telling response:

"I am not going to call WADA president John Fahey because I know more than he thinks I know
So for me this is a total injustice. It shows again the system does not work and there is nothing that they can say to convince me that it does."


And just as I thought that the dust of the imminent off-season was going to cover this promising spat, news have now emerged that Novak Djokovic was humiliated by having to endure 5 hours of drugs testing during Serbia-Czech Republic doubles match.
That was less than 20 hours before his must win match against Berdych on Sunday.
The testing started an hour before the match, he was not allowed to leave the room during that time or talk to anybody.
He had to give four different samples and (over)eat various additional food and drinks WADA had provided in order to get all those tests done.
During that time he was not able to be on the bench and support his team.

To me, this is a chilling message from ITF and WADA and gives us all a small insight into what goes on behind closed doors.

The link below is from a reputable newspaper. Please ask if you need help with translation.


http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/sport.296.html:464366-Nehuman-odnos-prema-Novaku-testiranje-ispod-ljudskog-dostojanstva

Bizarre article.

-You think Djokovic is a doper
-If this was Nadal, you'd be arguing that this is a PR stunt by the ITF to make it seem like they were doing something, when Nadal was actually getting away scot-free
-If it was Nadal protesting to the ITF so vigorously about his countryman getting banned for missing a bloods test, you'd be raging at Nadal- and painting him out in a bad light for criticise the ITF just because his friend got punished for breaking the rules (and also thereby missing a crucial Davis Cup Tie).
-Instead with Djokovic being the man at the helm, you are portraying him as some sort of great hero (and read my point number 1 again to make this even more confusing??)

Never heard of forced eating and drinking before - what is the point?  What were they looking for?

JS,
I am afraid you are blinded by your Nadal fandom to such a degree you are not being able to participate in any logical discussions.

I don't know even where to begin, it really is a waste of time in your case.

You can bark and insult me to your heart's content but that's not going to change the fact that Nadal is the biggest cheat in the history of tennis.

Some of us have loved tennis before Nadal came on the scene and are worried about where it is at the moment.

You only seem to care about Nadal.
Unfortunately, I have no sympathy for you there.

bluenose wrote:Never heard of forced eating and drinking before - what is the point?  What were they looking for?

There are many people annoyed out there on the Serbian team's behalf for two reasons:
-Serbia just lost the Davis Cup Final
-One of their best players was banned by the ITF for missing a drugs test, which contributed hugely towards them losing the DC.

With such emotion so soon after a big loss like this, I think we have to be weary to trust this article as a reliable source... or the source this website has obtained information from.

bluenose wrote:Never heard of forced eating and drinking before - what is the point?  What were they looking for?

Well, that's the question. I don't know what exactly is involved in a standard sample taking procedure, but this was obviously a calculated attempt of intimidating and humiliating Novak.

noleisthebest wrote:

Julia Santamaria wrote:Bizarre article.

-You think Djokovic is a doper
-If this was Nadal, you'd be arguing that this is a PR stunt by the ITF to make it seem like they were doing something, when Nadal was actually getting away scot-free
-If it was Nadal protesting to the ITF so vigorously about his countryman getting banned for missing a bloods test, you'd be raging at Nadal- and painting him out in a bad light for criticise the ITF just because his friend got punished for breaking the rules (and also thereby missing a crucial Davis Cup Tie).
-Instead with Djokovic being the man at the helm, you are portraying him as some sort of great hero (and read my point number 1 again to make this even more confusing??)

JS,
I am afraid you are blinded by your Nadal fandom to such a degree you are not being able to participate in any logical discussions.

Nothing I've said in my above post ^ would imply I am a Nadal fan.
The fact is even if I hate Nadal and believe he's a doper, my post is still correct.

That seems really weird NITB. I would like to see hear Djoko speak about that experience in English. Have you got any other source?

bluenose wrote:Never heard of forced eating and drinking before - what is the point?  What were they looking for?

Just re-read the article, Novak was forced to eat additional food to meet WADA sample standards: the acidity, thickness and other parametres.
The additional aggravation was that normally testing is done either first thing in the morning or after a match.

Tenez wrote:That seems really weird NITB. I would like to see hear Djoko speak about that experience in English. Have you got any other source?

I'll try to dig it out.
Nole says nothing in that article, only Serbia's Davis Cup team doctor.
I'll translate it otherwise.

No need to...just like to hear Djoko about it. That would be require quite some explanation from Djko. Maybe it took 5 hours for Djoko to obtain a urine sample?

Tenez wrote:No need to...just like to hear Djoko about it. That would be require quite some explanation from Djko. Maybe it took 5 hours for Djoko to obtain a urine sample?

Doubt it, you can get a urine sample within 45 mins max.
Anyway, I'll translate the article, it's not that long.

Here it is:


Inhumane Treatment of Novak, Testing Below Human Dignity!

While the battle was taking place on Saturday, in the crucial Davis Cup final match, Novak Djokovic was not on the bench of Serbian National Team. Our best tennis player wanted to support Ilija and Nenad in that match, but he was not able to.
From the locker room, he had to go straight to the anti-doping room, where he spent full 5 hours!

Giving samples was a right torture, below the levels of human dignity and professional etiquette, said dr Zdeslav Milinkovic, doctor and nutritionist of our (Serbian) national team:

"TSS and I personally are all for following WADA rules. It is essential that doping in sport is reduced, Novak and all our tennis players respect that, despite all that has happened recently (Troicki's ban).
However, the story has two sides. Anti-doping controls are a duty of all athletes, and they all fulfil them. But what I do not understand is how often it breaches standard procedure" our reputable orthopede begins to tell us.
'There were several inconsistencies in all that happened' claims Milinkovic.
'The fact they chose Novak for testing in the day he did not play, an hour before the crucial doubles match, that was not right. Those tests are done either in the morning or after a match. But as a team leader, Novak accepted to do all that was asked of him, without any complaining. On the other hand, since he was being tested, he was directly excluded from helping the team because he was not able to support them. He spent 5 hours in an isolated room!'
The doctor explains why it took such a long time.
"The sample has to fulfil certain standards prescribed by WADA. Bodily samples are a process of digestion, and their concentration depends on how much food we had consumed. Standards are well-known, but Novak has perfect hydration and is in an absolute balance. Still, he was forced to give sample four times during testing.
He was forced to eat more food and drink than he needed in order to fulfil the standards of thickness, acidity and other parametres prescribed by WADA.
It was a complete maltreatment of an athlete which breached realms of profession, codex and ethics."

Personally, I found that upsetting, but Novak did it all without a single complaint. On top of it all, he was in the room with a total stranger, he was not allowed to leave the room all 5 hours, he had to be careful what he was saying and how he talked to his close ones (I am assuming he was able to use his mobile phone here). It was all below the level of human dignity and basic manners and decency. He took it all in his stride admirably, although because of it all he could not go out and support his team. That is why I think his comment about something having to change in anti-doping procedure quite valid." concluded dr Milinkovic.

really weird but again I'd like to hear it from the horse's mouth.

Tenez wrote:really weird but again I'd like to hear it from the horse's mouth.

I doubt we will. But I'll keep my ear to the ground in the next couple of days  

It almost sounds like a gunpoint interrigation!

I wonder how many other players have had to face the same treatment.

legendkillar wrote:It almost sounds like a gunpoint interrigation!

I wonder how many other players have had to face the same treatment.

I guarantee you that Nadal hasn't.