Minar banned for eight months

Czech tennis player Ivo Minar was banned for eight months on Wednesday after testing positive for a banned substance following a Davis Cup match.

The International Tennis Federation said the sample, which was taken after the Davis Cup quarterfinal against Argentina on July 11, contained a banned stimulant.

The ITF said the ban will end on March 10, 2010, and ruled that the 25-year-old Minar’s results this year from tournaments in Stuttgart, Hamburg and Gstaad be scrapped.

“The ITF accepted Minar’s explanation that led to the positive test,” the federation said in a statement. “Under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme, however, it is a player’s strict personal duty to ensure that no prohibited substance enters his or her body, whether as an ingredient in a nutritional supplement or otherwise.”