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Cilic ban reduced to four months by CAS

ESPN staff
October 25, 2013
Marin Cilic won the AEGON Championships in 2012 © PA Photos
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Marin Cilic has had his nine-month ban for doping reduced to four months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The CAS stated the ban was "too severe in view of the degree of fault." Cilic will now be cleared to play again from midnight on Friday as his original suspension was backdated to May 1.

A statement issued by the court said: "The panel determined that the degree of fault committed by the athlete was inferior to that established in the [tribunal] decision.

"The panel also determined that the sanction imposed was too severe in view of the degree of fault and concluded that it should be reduced to four months."

Cilic was suspended by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) after testing positive for the banned stimulant nikethamide at the Munich Open in May, and has not played since Wimbledon in June.

The ITF accepted the player's contention that he ingested the stimulant inadvertently in a glucose tablet and was not trying to cheat. However, they had requested a two-year ban from the CAS by appealing the verdict of its own independent anti-doping tribunal.

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