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WADA revealed this Saturday, September 28, that it had filed an appeal after the world number 1 tested positive twice before being cleared.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced on Saturday that it had decided to appeal in the case concerning Jannik Sinner, the world number one tennis player, who was cleared by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (Itia) after having tested positive twice for clostebol, a banned substance, in March.
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In its statement, WADA “considers that the conclusion of absence of fault or negligence was not correct under the applicable rules” and, therefore, “WADA requests a suspension period of one to two years” for the Italian player, without his results obtained since his positive tests, including his victory at the US Open, being canceled. “As this matter is ongoing before the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport), WADA will not make any further comment at this stage,” the statement said.
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The agency, whose headquarters is in Montreal, indicated on September 10 that it had not yet made a decision regarding a possible appeal concerning the non-suspension of the world number one in the ATP ranking, the file being ” still under study.” In March 2024, Jannik Sinner suffered two positive doping tests one week apart: on March 10 during the Indian Wells tournament and on March 18 out of competition, just before the Miami tournament. Tiny traces of clostebol (anabolic) were detected in his urine.
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The Italian defended his position by claiming to have suffered “contamination by a member of his staff, who had applied an over-the-counter spray containing clostebol to his own hand to treat a small injury”, according to the International Agency for Health. integrity of tennis (Itia), which accepted his defense and officially cleared him at the end of August. The player, who won his first Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne in January, lost ATP points as well as winnings from the tournament during which his positive test was confirmed.
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Three weeks ago, Sinner became the first world number one to triumph at Flushing Meadows on the men’s side since Rafael Nadal in 2017, and the first Italian to lift the trophy in New York. Itia’s decision to clear the player sparked outraged reactions from certain players, including the Australian Nick Kyrgios and the Frenchman Lucas Pouille. Before the US Open, Sinner had ended his collaboration with his physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi, believed to have contaminated him unintentionally, as well as with his physical trainer, Umberto Ferrara, who had provided Naldi with the incriminated spray.
