WADA appeals decision to clear Jannik Sinner of wrongdoing after ...
2 hours agoSat 28 Sep 2024 at 10:18pm
Sinner won the Australian Open at Melbourne Park last January. (AP: Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
The World Anti-Doping Agency is appealing an independent tribunal's decision in August to clear tennis world number one Jannik Sinner of wrongdoing after he failed drug tests.
The tribunal accepted Sinner's explanation that the anabolic agent clostebol entered his system from a member of his support team through massages and sports therapy.
What's next?The Court of Arbitration for Sport will now consider WADA's appeal.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against an independent tribunal's decision in August to clear tennis world number one Jannik Sinner of wrongdoing after he failed drug tests.
WADA said on Saturday the tribunal's finding of "no fault or negligence" on the Italian's part was incorrect under the applicable rules, and it would seek "a period of ineligibility of between one and two years" for the Australian Open and US Open champion.
The tribunal, organised by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), had accepted Sinner's explanation that the anabolic agent clostebol entered his system from a member of his support team through massages and sports therapy.
Sinner, who beat Roman Safiullin on Saturday to reach the quarter-finals of the China Open, said he was surprised by WADA's decision.
"We cannot control everything, no? Obviously, I'm very disappointed and also surprised of this appeal, to be honest, because we had three hearings. All three hearings came out very positively for me," he told reporters in Beijing.
"We always talk about the same thing. Maybe they just want to make sure that everything is in the right position. Yeah, I'm just surprised that they appealed."
The ITIA said in a statement on Saturday: "The process was run according to World Anti-Doping Code guidelines; however, the ITIA acknowledges and respects WADA's right to appeal the independent tribunal's decision."
Sinner said his physio, Giacomo Naldi, applied an over-the-counter spray containing clostebol to his skin to treat a small finger wound and then administered massages between March 5 and 13 without using gloves, according to the ITIA.
The latest tennis player to become embroiled in a doping case after twice major winner Simona Halep, Sinner has maintained his innocence, saying the amount of clostebol found in his system was less than a billionth of a gram. He fired his trainer and physio in August.
A number of players have criticised the tribunal verdict including Britain's Tara Moore, who was sidelined for 19 months for failing a drug test before being cleared last year.
"I guess only the top players' images matter," she wrote on social media.
Reuters
