Report: McEnroe admits to steroids
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McEnroe has called for an overhaul of tennis' hierarchy.
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SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- John McEnroe has reportedly admitted he unknowingly took steroids during his tennis career.
"For six years I was unaware I was being given a form of steroid of the legal kind they used to give horses until they decided it was too strong even for horses," McEnroe was quoted as saying in The Daily Telegraph newspaper in Sydney on Monday.
McEnroe, 43, didn't say who gave him the steroids or for what reason.
The three-time Wimbledon champion's admission followed revelations by Greg Rusedski that he tested positive to nandrolone last July.
The Canadian-born British player said he was innocent and the steroid must have been contained in supplements dispensed by ATP tour trainers. (Full story)
McEnroe said the Rusedski case and the handling of other recent doping cases showed tennis' hierarchy needed an overhaul.
"Surely it's now time for tennis to have its own commissioner," he said. "We have enough problems in the sport. It's the last thing we need."
McEnroe was implicated in a doping scandal two years ago when his former wife Tatum O'Neil claimed the former No. 1 had used steroids late in his career.
McEnroe later called O'Neil's statements "ridiculous."
Drug testing in tennis started in the late 1980s, conducted by the Men's International Professional Tennis Council. The testing at that time was for recreational drugs only and not for those that were considered performance-enhancing.
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