Lawyers acting for Australian tennis great Lleyton Hewitt have made the sensational claim "manipulated video evidence" was used in a case against him for allegedly pushing an anti-doping official last year.
Hewitt, 44, has been banned for two weeks and fined $30,000 for "offensive conduct" towards a 60-year-old volunteer during last year's Davis Cup semi final.
The news broke last week and Hewitt remained tight-lipped over the weekend as he appeared at the Davis Cup in Sydney, but said his lawyers were looking into an appeal.
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On Monday night, Adelaide law firm WRP Legal released a statement with the claim video evidence had been tampered with in the case against the former world No.1.
"The footage appeared to depict [Hewitt] making physical contact with a doping control officer [DCO]," it read.
"The incident in question occurred immediately following the second match of the 2024 Davis Cup tie between Australia and Italy. In his capacity as team captain of the Australian team, [Hewitt] exited the court alongside Alex de Minaur, walking through a highly congested tunnel area.
"During this time, a DCO, who never made himself known to either [Hewitt] or Alex de Minaur, made significant contact with [Hewitt], who was recovering from surgery.
"As the DCO attempted to re-approach Alex de Minaur in haste, [Hewitt], perceiving the threat of another imminent collision, reacted by fending the DCO away. Importantly, [Hewitt] did not know who the DCO was or why he was in the tunnel."
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, an International Tennis Integrity Agency official said, "The video footage was not manipulated, and if Mr Hewitt believed it was, then he had the opportunity to raise this allegation at the hearing".
Unless he appeals and wins, Hewitt will serve his suspension between September 24 and October 7. He was allowed to captain Australia during the weekend's Davis Cup event in Sydney.
"I'm just really disappointed about the overall decision, but also the whole process to be honest, even the lack of facts that have been put out," Hewitt told reporters at a press conference on Thursday.
"I'll be going through the appeal process with my legal team, so I won't be talking about it any further."
Watch Australia's Davis Cup tie against Belgium live and free on Nine and 9Now.
Hewitt insisted he is not going to let the looming ban distract him from his duties with the Australian team.
He then confirmed neither he nor the team had considered that he should step aside as captain.
"This competition means too much," Hewitt said.
"As I said, for us to get the opportunity to come back here three-and-a-half years later to play in Australia on home soil, so many young kids with the opportunity to see their role models, and especially Alex [de Minaur], up close, a top 10 player playing on his home court here in front of his home crowd.
"There's too many great stories and positives to take away from this weekend and what we're trying to do. I think deep down it will just make the boys even stronger to go out there and get the job done."
ITIA chief executive Karen Moorhouse strongly condemned Hewitt's actions in the Wednesday night statement.
"Anti-doping personnel play a fundamental role behind the scenes in upholding the integrity of tennis," she said.
"And they should be able to go about their roles without fear of physical contact.
"In this case, that line was clearly crossed, and we had no other option but to take action."
Hewitt is a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
The Wimbledon and US Open champion was previously the youngest man in history to become world No.1 at 20 years old.
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