Tennis Association: Gardner’s Professional Future In The Hands Of The ITF

Vice President of the Antigua and Barbuda Tennis Association (ABTA), Peter Quinn, has debunked reports that the body is seeking to have national and professional tennis player, Kevin Garner, banned from the sport entirely.
The ban imposed on the player, according to Quinn, bars him only from national selection and that any other sanctions, if any, would have to be imposed by the sport’s world governing body, the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
“What we have found in the past is that generally, persons who find themselves in this type of situation, the ITF would issue a no credentials list and then that would be circulated to all of the associations and tournaments. I don’t know if that’s the route that the ITF is going to take, so they would have to get back to us indicating what actions they will take,” he said.
“From an ABTA perspective, Kevin is no longer authorised to represent the ABTA with respect to whether or not he can play under the Antigua flag, then it is up to the ITF to make that determination and they have not communicated to us as yet,” he added.
Gardner was expelled from the tennis association on September 28 after, according to Quinn, the membership voted unanimously for the player’s removal. 
The player, Quinn said, was given ample opportunity to mount a defence either in person or in writing.
“Both parties would have an opportunity to present their side of the argument at that meeting and the option was also available and very explicit in the letter and in our constitution that he could present himself either in person or in writing. In fact, one option was even to send an emissary, so he could have sent someone to represent him at that meeting,” he said. 
The vice president also sought to allay concerns that there may have been personal differences at play where the recent decision was concerned.
“I have nothing at all against Kevin, in fact, I consider Kevin a friend, but when you try to bring the association into disrepute and what you have to recall as well is that we gave Kevin the opportunity to respond. [We wrote him] four times and he never responded and so we presented it, based on our constitution to the extraordinary general meeting and the vote was unanimous to have him expelled,” Quinn said.
Gardner has 30 days from the date of the letter to file an appeal.