World Anti-Doping Agency appeals Jannik Sinner’s case, seeks suspension of up to two years

THE World Anti-Doping Agency (LOVE) announced that it had presented an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) in the case of the Italian tennis player Jannik Fishermanwhich was examined by an independent tribunal of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) as not guilty or negligent after testing positive twice for clostebol, a banned substance, in March 2024.

WADA considers that the conclusion that there was no “fault or negligence” was not correct under the applicable rules. WADA requests a period of ineligibility of between one and two years. WADA is not seeking disqualification of any results except those already declared by the trial court.

As this matter is now pending before the CAS, WADA has indicated that it will make no further comment at this time.

Sinner’s doping case is due to a double positive in the Indian Wells Masters 1000in which the current world number one retired in the semi-final against the Spaniards Carlos Alcaraz. Although they only spoke to the Italian about it at the beginning of April. The first urine analysis, which contained minimal traces of clostebol, was on March 10.

Eight days later, low but higher than permitted values ​​of the same substance were detected again. After that, Sinner continued to compete normally and arrived in the Miami Masters 1000in which he proclaims himself the winner. A few days later he was suspended, although this was not made public because the Italian tennis player appealed the sanction, alleging that it was carried out under unintentional contamination.

Sinner’s defense is that his physical trainer, Umberto ferrarahad suffered a cut on his finger and treated it with a spray containing clostebol. In the following days, he massaged the tennis player all over his body, including areas, such as his fingers, where the tennis player suffered from small injuries. By massaging and applying bandages to these surfaces, the substance would have entered Sinner’s body.

The ITIA’s decision sparked significant debate within the tennis world over whether Sinner was receiving preferential treatment due to his status as one of the most important tennis players on the organized world tour. by ITIA. Professional Tennis Players Association (ATP) right away.