BRITISH TENNIS PLAYER Dan Evans has been banned for a year after cocaine contaminated medication stored in his washbag.

Evans – a member of the Great Britain team that won the Davis Cup in 2015 — failed the test at the Barcelona Open on April 24, saying in June: “I made a mistake and I must face up to it.”

During an investigation by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), Evans explained that he had ingested a “small amount” of cocaine out of competition on April 20 before transferring what was left to his pocket.

The substance was then moved to Evans’ washbag, where it came into contact with permitted medication he was taking at the time of the positive test, and was subsequently discarded.

The ITF, with input from medical experts, accepted Evans’ version of events and revealed that the ban — already reduced from four years by a number of mitigating factors — would be backdated to April following his “prompt admission”.

Any ranking points or prize money collected since that date will be disqualified.

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