Mr. Gareth R. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many drug tests were conducted by(a) UK Sport and (b) another agency responsible to her during (i) all tennis tournaments with professional players in the United Kingdom and (ii) during the Wimbledon tennis tournament. [39031]
§ Mr. CabornUK Sport is the only Government agency funded to undertake anti-doping work in the UK. Since 1 April 2001 UK Sport has conducted testing at six events at which professional tennis players were present. A total of 65 tests have been collected as part of the Lawn Tennis Association's Anti-Doping Programme.
Testing at Wimbledon tournament is not undertaken by UK Sport, this is done by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). In 2001 the ITF conducted 120 tests during the Wimbledon tournament and 56 in other tennis tournaments in the UK. The testing programme is independently administered and all analysis of samples is carried out at IOC accredited laboratories.