Cash-strapped Malisse prefers retiring over costly CAS appeal

Brussels: Belgian tennis player Xavier Malisse said Friday he was considering retiring as he did not have the money to appeal his one-year ban for missing a drugs test.

Malisse and compatriot Yanina Wickmayer, the US Open semi-finalist, were both suspended by the Flemish Doping Tribunal (VDT) on Thursday for failing to comply with doping regulations. But 95th-ranked Malisse, who has earned over 3.5 million dollars in his career, said that he did not have the money to appeal his suspension to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).“A procedure before CAS is very costly and lasts a very long time,” said the 29-year-old, who has won three career titles and was ranked 19 in 2002. “I currently don’t have the financial means to take on such a battle. I still don’t know what I’m going to do, but if the suspension is maintained that means the end of my career.”Malisse was punished for missing a drugs test and for twice failing to fulfill the ADAMS (Anti-Doping Administration and Management System) under which athletes are obliged to tell national anti-doping authorities where they will be at a chosen hour each day for a three-month period. The sanctions came as a surprise - only last month, it was expected that the two players would escape with just a reprimand. Bureau Report