Tara Moore has sued the WTA for $20,000,000. The 33 year old British woman is currently serving a four-year competition ban set to end in December 2027 for an anti-doping rule violation relating to a failed test in 2022.
Moore turned pro in 2010 and reached a career high singles ranking of 145 in 2017. She has won 9 ITF singles titles.
The troubles for Moore’s drug scandal started in June 2022. She tested positive for Boldorone and Nandrolone at a tournament in Colombia in April 2022, along with Barbra Gatica.
Both players’ cases were jointly evaluated ed by an independent tribunal panel. In December 2023 the panel ruled that neither player bore any fault nor demonstrated any negligence after concluding that the source of the substances was contaminated meat consumed at the tournament. Ā In January 2024, the BBC reported that the ITIA would appeal the tribunal’s decision, with that appeal to take place at theĀ Court of Arbitration for SportĀ (CAS) at a future date.
Moore’s controversial case was cited as one of the reasons why the PTPA (Professional Tennis Players Association) in 2025 established theirĀ Athlete Counsel & Equity (ACE) ProgramĀ to provide pro-bono legal support to members involved anti-doping and anti-corruption cases.
In July 2025, CAS upheld the ITIA appeal, rejected the tribunal decision and slapped Moore with a four-year ban with 19 months credit from the earlier suspension. CAS asserted that Moore “did not succeed in proving that the concentration of Nandrolone in her sample was consistent with the ingestion of contaminated meat” and that she had “failed to establish that [it] was not intentional.”
Presumably, Moore was outraged by the injustice and hypocrisy of seeing Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek only lightly punished a couple of months for their positive drug tests, two by Sinner and one by Iga. Her statement after being hit with the four year ban was, “The anti-doping system is broken.”
Moore has earned $652,243 in her pro tennis career.
The $20 million lawsuit was filed by Moore and her legal team King & Spalding and Reeves & Weiss on Feb. 12 in the Southern District Of New York. Moore contends the WTA failed to warn athletes about contaminated meat risks (steroids farming) in Bogota at the WTA 250 event. Moore and her lawyers stated the WTA issued warnings about possible contaminated meat at other tournament locations but not Bogota. The suit, which seeks $20 million in damages, argues that an initial tribunalās exoneration was improperly reversed by a CAS panel that applied incorrect legal standards.
Moore and her lawyers assert her tennis career career was ruined by the WTA failure to warn the players about contaminated meat. It is not clear if the second player Gatica is part of the lawsuit.
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Steve · February 23, 2026 at 11:58 am
It’s a confusing story. Gatica is allegedly suspended for match fixing.
Who are the members of these tribunals? Who appoints them?
Why would they not be believed?
Tribunal: William Norris KC, Professor Dorian Haskard, Abigail Gauci.
Scoop Malinowski · February 23, 2026 at 7:52 pm
Very bizarre case. You have to wonder about Moore, her career was on the rocks anyway, never close to top 100, late 20s now early 30s, it’s also strange how the authority was so strict on her incident. $20m is a lot, hope she gets a fair settlement. $20m could break the WTA. But what would be their motive to sabotage Moore’s career? Respect for how Moore will not give up.
Sam · February 27, 2026 at 12:54 am
But what would be their motive to sabotage Mooreās career?
Because she dared to speak up about double standards, with athletes like Swiatek and Sinner getting free passes. š²
Scoop Malinowski · February 27, 2026 at 6:06 am
That is one of the mysteries about this case Sam, Moore’s career was over essentially when this happened in Colombia. Maybe she was dirty and is trying to take advantage of some mistakes the system made. A most curious situation.