Peta Bee on Tennis's Hard But Necessary Lesson

Even the slightest sign of a tickly throat or a bout of the sniffles must send the average professional athlete into turmoil. What to take when your nose is running faster than you are has become a matter for deep scientific analysis and ethical debate in sport. For, as harsh as it might seem, popping an innocuous-looking remedy for the common cold can land you in almost as deep water as taking a designer drug.

If only someone had explained this to the Russian tennis player Svetlana Kuznetsova. Last week it was alleged that the US Open champion had failed a dope test at an exhibition tournament in Charleroi, Belgium, the previous month. News of her violation was apparently leaked to the media by the outspoken Belgian sports minister Claude Eerdekens, although the 19-year-old player insists she received official notification of the result.

Kuznetsova says she is deeply "offended" by the "appalling allegations" against her and the manner in which they were made. On the face of things she deserves our utmost sympathy. After all, it appears that the test, if confirmed, can be traced to a product she ingested to soothe a cold, not to a deliberate attempt to flout the rulebook. Indeed, many fellow players, fans and even the Women's Tennis Association have sprung to her defence.

Yet the Russian's declaration of shock and denial is the stock reaction of most athletes who discover they have fallen foul of the doping regulations. Rare is it, in fact, that we do not hear staunch proclamations of innocence in such circumstances. Excuses, at least in the first instance, are what we have come to expect whenever a player's name is linked with drugs. So what conclusions are we really to draw from this latest debacle?

Kuznetsova tested positive for the banned stimulant ephedrine, a substance found in plenty of over-the-counter medications. Her main gripe regarding the scandal she found herself embroiled in is that she ignorantly consumed something she presumed to be safe, yet has been publicly condemned before being able to present tennis authorities with the facts as she sees them. She is said to be considering legal action against Eerdekens for his failure to follow the usual protocol and outing her before she had the opportunity to clear her name.

But in some respects it is irrelevant whether or not the blundering Belgian politician committed a serious error of judgment - because so did she. Kuznetsova has admitted taking a cold remedy in Belgium on the recommendation of a doctor last month and concedes that it might possibly have caused a positive result. Which is ultimately where her ethical argument falls down.

As a professional athlete she should know better. It is surely a crucial requirement of her job to acquaint herself not only with which drugs are banned but with which widely available products contain them. And it is really not that difficult to unearth such information - a click of a mouse on to most sports governing bodies' websites will result in lists of what is and is not permissible to take. If uncertainty about a medication's ingredients remains then an application for an exemption certificate can be made to the appropriate authorities.

There should be little opportunity for excuses to be made when the boundaries are so clearly set. Kuznetsova and her advisors, like so many before, appear to have been careless in their approach and risked costing her reputation dear.

In all likelihood, it appears the Russian will escape punishment even if the test results are confirmed. Under the WTA anti-doping programme, ephedrine, known to improve alertness and energy levels, is not banned when used out of competition and, with the Charleroi tournament a non-ratified event, it fell into this category.

Still Kuznetsova persists in claiming that her anonymity should have been preserved. But what she should be asked is "why?"

If cleared of any wrongdoing, as she is almost certain to be, her reputation will remain intact. And the fact the process used to convict drug cheats is open rather than a cloak-and-dagger affair - as has been the case in the men's game over the past couple of years - should be welcomed by Kuznetsova and everyone else in sport.