Argentine tennis player banned for doping

Argentina's Mariano Hood has been banned for one year for doping, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said in a statement on Wednesday.

Hood, 32, tested positive for a masking agent, finasteride, after a men's doubles match at the French Open on May 31, 2005, when he was partnered by Martin Damm of the Czech Republic.

He is the fifth Argentine to be banned for doping in recent years.

An independent tribunal accepted that Hood had taken a hair loss treatment for several years and failed to notice that finasteride had been added to the list of prohibited substances in 2005.

Six weeks ago, another Argentine, Mariano Puerta, was banned for a record eight years for failing a drugs test for the second time. He also tested positive at the French Open, for the banned stimulant etilefrine.

Puerta, 27, has since launched an appeal against the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Three other Argentines -- Juan Ignacio Chela, Guillermo Coria and Guillermo Canas -- have received bans for banned substances in the past five years.

Hood must forfeit his ranking points and prize money of 18,900 euros ($22,630) from the French Open. The ban starts from Oct. 10, 2005, the ITF said on its website.

Hood, primarily a doubles player, has won $828,644 in his career and lifted 13 titles.