In his autobiography, Open, Andre Agassi has admitted taking crystal meth back in 1997 and lying about it when caught. The Association of Tennis Professional (ATP), in turn, swept the affair under the carpet and moved on, deciding against punishing the American for his ‘mistake’.

The question now is whether he should be punished after the event or not. The answer, surely, is no.

What good would it serve? A warning to current and future tennis stars about the dangers of drugs? Hardly. The ATP have since then cleaned up their act, we are told and Agassi is long retired.

Taking crystal meth is hardly performance enhancing so from that point of view alone there’s no charge to answer. Professional sportsmen cannot, of course, be seen to be endorsing recreational drug use either and the general consensus is to punish anyone caught doing it. Sporting Fare isn’t so sure that is the correct way of going about things, however.

Taking performance enhancing drugs is rightly punished by the sport in question’s governing body and it should remain that way. That same body punishing the use of recreational – and illegal – drugs doesn’t seem quite right. No, that should be punished by the law and the legal system. When a sportsman is caught with cocaine in their system, have them brought up on charges of at least possession. But let the sport body stay out of it. That’s our admittedly controversial view at least.

Which brings us back to Agassi. Can he be charged with possession and use of crystal meth 12 years after the fact? Doubtful. His frank admission has shed light on certain issues that need addressing – not least the lack of action from the ATP at the time – but to punish him now would be ridiculous.