Jannik Sinner of Italy reacts in the men’s singles match against Nicolas Jarry of Chile during day four of the 2024 China Open at National Tennis Center on September 26, 2024 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
| Photo Credit: Getty Images
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against an independent tribunal’s decision in August to clear world number one Jannik Sinner of wrongdoing after he failed drug tests, WADA said on Saturday, September 28, 2024.
“The tribunal’s finding of “no fault or negligence” was not correct under the applicable rules,” WADA said in a statement.
WADA said it would seek “a period of ineligibility of between one and two years” for Italy’s Sinner, who won the Australian Open and the U.S. Open this year.
Earlier in August, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), Sinner provided an in-competition sample at the Indian Wells Masters on March 10, 2024, which contained the presence of a metabolite of clostebol at low levels.
A further sample, conducted eight days later out of competition, also tested positive for low levels of the same metabolite.
ITIA further confirmed on August 24, 2024 that “an independent tribunal convened by Sport Resolutions has ruled that Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner bears No Fault or Negligence for two Anti-Doping Rule Violations under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (TADP)”.
The statement further added that, “The player explained that the substance had entered their system as a result of contamination from a support team member, who had been applying an over-the-counter spray (available in Italy) containing clostebol to their own skin to treat a small wound.”
The ITIA added that the support team member in question had applied the spray between March 5-13 during which time they also provided daily massages and sports therapy to Sinner, which resulted in the contamination.
(With Inputs from AFP)
Published – September 28, 2024 01:38 pm IST