Argentine doubles tennis player Mariano Hood admitted he had been using finasteride, a drug to avoid premature baldness and which is banned in sports.
"To me it is an everyday matter. Since nine years ago I have been taking treatments to avoid baldness. On this time I have had 15-20 anti-doping tests and nothing went wrong," said the player who tested positive in the French Open.
Hood, 32, said he didn't know the drug was banned by the professional men's tennis body ATP.
Nonetheless, he said he does not believe there is a plot against Argentina in the face of the large number of cases reported in recent years, and considered a "coincidence" that many of his compatriots tested positive in doping controls.
He told local dailies, El Clarin, La Nacion and Ole that he is innocent, alleging "I never wanted to take a sports advantage: finasteride by itself does nothing."
Hood has won 13 doubles titles and had been ranked 20th in 2003 in doubles.