The tennis world was shaken by another doping suspension, this time involving Frederico Ferreira Silva, a 30-year-old Portuguese player. The Tennis Anti-Doping Programme handed Silva a one-month ban.
What makes the news even more striking is its timing. The official update came just hours after his last appearance at the ATP Challenger event in Lisbon. The update has left the tennis community buzzing with mixed reactions.
Frederico Ferreira Silva’s Doping Suspension Draws Shocking Reactions From Fans
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has confirmed that Silva tested positive for the prohibited substance trimetazidine (TMZ) in an in-competition sample collected in February 2025. The Portuguese player has accepted a one-month suspension under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme.
While Silva stepped on the courts of Lisbon just hours ago, fans were left stunned after discovering the latest update in the doping scandal. Officially posted on ITIA’s X account, the update started a thread of discussions, including comments like “Ohh god!! Here we go again,” and a “Portuguese mafia” comparison.
Portuguese mafia
— Villi (@Villi200_) September 25, 2025
However, the main agenda behind the discussion was to prove that not only top-ranked pros like Jannik Sinner received preferential treatment amid the doping saga.
“But but I thought only top players like Iga and Jannik have a privilege of getting their cases resolved quickly – and its all a massive conspiracy?” a fan wrote.
Continuing the discussion, another fan joked about the fans who claimed only Sinner was privileged during the trial. “A moment of silence for those who believed only top players get special treatment,” she wrote.
Another fan presented a reality check to those who claimed Sinner received preferential treatment over his nationality.
“portuguese???? oh but they told me jannik received a different treatment because he’s italian, so see how your conspiracy theories are falling apart,” she wrote.
ITIA’s findings say the positive result was caused by contamination of a regulated prescription medicine (identified as Daflon 1000 mg). WADA-accredited laboratory testing confirmed TMZ in the product, ITIA’s independent expert verified the result, and pharmacy dispensing documentation supported the contamination conclusion. Hence, the agency judged the violation unintentional and Silva’s degree of fault to be “very low.”
Silva’s Verdict on How TMZ Entered His Body
Silva might have accepted the one-month-long ban, but his explanation of how the substance entered his body is enough to make this case more of a mystery. Per the official report shared by the ITIA, it was an orally prescribed medication that might be contaminated with TMZ, resulting in a positive test on Feb. 1.
“The Player has asserted that he did not intend to cheat and did not knowingly ingest TMZ. He asserts that a doctor, an expert in sports medicine, recommended that he purchase and use the Product (in conjunction with a cream) to treat a medical condition he was suffering with, and that (unknown to him) the Product was contaminated with TMZ,” the report said.
Silva was provisionally suspended from Mar. 19, 2025 (a decision he appealed), but the provisional suspension was later lifted once the contamination evidence was verified. Because the provisional period he served exceeded the one-month ineligibility, ITIA notes he is free to compete, and the full decision is published on the ITIA site.