Fernando Verdasco accepts two-month ban from tennis after ADHD medication mix up

Spain's Fernando Verdasco has accepted a two-month ban from the International Tennis Integrity Agency after he tested positive for methylphenidate at an ATP Challenger event in Rio de Janeiro in February.

The 39-year-old had apparently forgotten to renew his Theraputic Use Exemption (TUE) for the drug, which he uses to treat his ADHD.

A TUE is an official medical document which permits an athlete to consume a medication that is usually prohibited except for when it is used to treat a condition.

In a statement released by the ITIA, the organisation acknowledged that Verdasco had not intentionally cheated and therefore the ban was reduced from two years to two months.

''The ITIA accepts that the player did not intend to cheat, that his violation was inadvertent and unintentional, and that he bears no significant fault or negligence for it,'' the ITIA statement read.

''In the specific circumstances of this case, based on the player's degree of fault the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme allows for the applicable period of ineligibility to be reduced from two years to two months.''

The reduced ban means the former world No. 7 will be back competing in professional tennis by January 8, 2023.

Verdasco has also been issued with a new TUE for the medication.