Richard Gasquet escaped a lengthy doping ban yesterday when the International Tennis Federation ruled that he inadvertently took cocaine.

The 23-year-old Frenchman, who was cleared to resume playing after completing a 21/2-month ban yesterday, convinced an independent anti-doping tribunal that he ingested cocaine by kissing a women he met at a nightclub in Miami.

The tribunal panel of three lawyers said Gasquet consumed no more than "a grain of salt" of the drug, and a long ban would be an injustice in a case which was "unusual to the point of being probably unique."

Honest and truthful

"We have found the player to be a person who is shy and reserved, honest and truthful, and a man of integrity and good character," the tribunal said in its ruling.

The ITF, which had sought a two-year ban under the terms of the World Anti-Doping Agency's code, was told to impose a retroactive ban of 2 months, 15 days. The ban ended Wednesday morning, clearing 32nd-ranked Gasquet to resume playing.

Gasquet tested positive in a urine sample in March after he pulled out of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, with a shoulder injury.

After deciding to withdraw from the tournament he went to a nightclub with friends to see a French DJ perform at a dance music festival in Miami, which the tribunal noted was "notoriously associated with use of illegal recreational drugs including cocaine."