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You figured something was up when Aussie Max Purcell, a well-decorated doubles champion and former No. 40 in singles (currently at No. 105), didn’t get an initial main-draw singles wild card into next month’s Australian Open.

But, because worst-case scenarios are still the last resort, you figured perhaps he was dealing with an injury.

On Monday, two days before Christmas, the reason was announced: Purcell, 26, has accepted a voluntary suspension from ITIA.

We now will learn about a new section of the ITIA violations code, because it’s not an adverse analytical finding because of a positive doping test.

It’s a violation of the “prohibited method” rule, which carries the same weight as testing positive for a prohibited substance, but which we haven’t yet encountered in the relative flurry of recent cases involving highly recognizable players.

The ITIA wasn’t specific in its announcement, which is its protocol as the case is ongoing. The suspension took effect on Dec. 12.

But Purcell helpfully laid out his version of events in a social media post this morning.

What is a “prohibited method”?

If you’ve been reading through the recent doping decisions, you may well have passed right by the word “method” – even though it’s in lockstep with “prohibited substances” as a doping violation.

And it can be many things. Here’s how the WADA (World Anti-Doping Association) code lays it out:

The M2.1 clause might well have concerned the Russians, who reportedly tampered with a lot of samples during the Sochi Olympics.

The M1.2 clause might well include things like a hyperbaric chamber, which can get up to three times the regular amount of oxygen into the lungs. But because the oxygen is technically “inhaled”, it passes the test.

As for the specific clause violated by Purcell, highlighted above, he sets forth his explanation in his Instagram post.

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A post shared by Max PurceLL (@maxpurcelll)

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Purcell maintains he had advised the medical clinic he needed these intravenous infusions of vitamins to be below that 100ml threshold. But when he received his medical records from the clinic that adminstered them last week, they indicated that on one of the infusions, the amount was above 100 ml.

It’s unclear, but the conclusion from his statement is that once he saw this, he self-reported it to ITIA. What we don’t yet know is whether this is information that ITIA might be able to otherwise obtain.

It’s also unknown at this point why anyone would even get vitamin infusions.

But by self-reporting and acception a provisional suspension, Purcell is obviously in serious danger of missing the most important part of the season to an Aussie – the Aussie summer.

It also shows what a thin, fine line the athletes walk in trying to be compliant. One false move – whether your own fault or an error of inattention by someone you trust – can have serious consequences.

Third major champion to get dinged in 2024

The Purcell case follows in the wake of the positive test for Clostebol by Jannik Sinner last March.

Under veil of secrecy, Sinner absolved of fault in positive doping test

And then, in Cincinnati in August, came the positive Iga Switek test for trimetazidine, a heart medication used on-label to treat angina.

Iga Swiatek issued one-month suspension for positive doping test

What’s different this time?

In Swiatek’s case, the provisional suspension was not announced as she endeavoured to find the source of the positive test, which was determined to be a cross-contamination of the common over-the-counter supplement she took, melatonin, to help with sleep issues.

In the end, she was assessed a one-month suspension, three weeks of which she served during the Asian swing as the case was being investigated, and a further week after the end of the season when the decision was announced.

In Sinner’s case, his appeals of the provisional suspensions for separate positives, a week apart, for the prohibited substance Clostebol were accepted. The judge concluded that his version of the events that led to the inadvertent ingestion of the Clostebol via his former physio, who had the substance (found in a common, over-the-counter antibiotic spray readily available in their native Italy) to help heal a cut on his finger and gave him regular treatments and massages, was plausible.

As WADA appeals the Jannik Sinner case, there are QUESTIONS

And so, in both cases, those provisional suspensions were not publicly announced. Which of course has led to a plethora of online conspiracy theories and intimations of a coverup – none of which are validated by the facts.

In Purcell’s case, that he committed the violation was not in doubt. And since he accepted the suspension and wasn’t appealing it, the ITIA procedure is to announce it.

Which the organization did on Monday, followed by Purcell’s explanation of the facts behind it.

It certainly appears he did the right thing – or tried to; you hope this works in his favour. And you certainly hope that he’s being completely transparent; the investigation will undoubtedly determine this.

What’s next?

In Sinner’s case, he’s far from being out of the woods as WADA, which oversees individual-sport anti-doping associations, has filed a rare appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

(It’s not rare that there is an appeal, but in tennis those typically come from suspended athletes who want their sentences reduced – and often get their wish).

WADA considers that the independant tribunal’s assessment that Sinner did not deliberately dope was acceptable. But it considered the level of fault ascribed (i.e., zero fault, since Sinner did not get suspended within the range of up to two years and did not miss a tournament) to be inadequate.

That case will not be heard for awhile still – not until at least February. Which means Sinner is free to compete at all the events during the Australian summer, including a title defence at the Australian Open.

For Purcell, it’s more complicated – especially because the January tournaments at home in Australia are especially meaningful to him.

Purcell is the 2022 Wimbledon (with Matt Ebden) and 2024 US Open (with Jordan Thompson) doubles champion. He and Thompson made the Brisbane semifinals in January, and made the second round in Melbourne. They also won the title in Dallas in early February. That’s 430 points he must defend – in addition to certainly being a contender in Melbourne, where Purcell was a finalist in both 2020 and 2022.

Given we are now deep into a holiday season, and given the usual lag time to get a hearing scheduled and heard, you have to think he’ll have a hard time getting this sorted in the next month.

In short, 2024 was a watershed year – and not in a good way – for positive doping tests. And so many of them, each in their own way, do not indicate any type of deliberate doping but rather illustrate just how many ways the system can trip you up, no matter how careful you are about what you put into your body.

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