Jannik Sinner was forgiven by ITIA after being detected positively twice with a prohibited substance, but the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed to TAS and asks for a suspension between 1 and 2 years for the world leader.
Jannik Sinner is waiting for his verdict from Tas. Facebook photo
From the positive tests the Italian won two Grand Slam (US Open in September 2024 and the Australian Open in January 2025), the Champions Tournament and three ATP Masters 1000 tournaments last year. But Wada wants to see him suspended, but without withdrawing the aforementioned trophies. The World Anti-Doping Agency has launched a clear warning in the case of Jannik Sinner, stating that if the Italian is not suspended, it could be a dangerous precedent and that, without a clear sanction, “The dopaths would have to win”.
In March 2024, the Italian, who was then the world number 2, was detected positively at Clostebol, an anabolic steroid, in two separate samples. The International Agency for Tennis Integrity (ITI) has noticed, but without temporarily suspending it, as it did in the cases of other athletes. The player’s explanations were accepted by judges, ITIA concluded that Sinner had not “No guilt or negligence”. Wada did not agree with the verdict and appealed in September last year, requesting the suspension of the athlete for a period between 12 and 24 months. The case is to be tried by the Sports Arbitration Court (CAS) on April 16-17, in Lausanne, Switzerland, writes Eurosport.
Dopaths would have to win
A Wada spokesman, James Fitzgerald, explained for the publication at Sampa why the agency is not left in the case of Jannik Sinner: “As I declared in September, Wada believes that the verdict without guilt or negligence ‘was not correct according to the current rules and requests a suspension between one and two years.”. Another official Wada explained: “The principle of strict liability is fundamental for maintaining equity in sports. Without this principle, the fight against doping would no longer exist, and the dopaths would have to win. “
He added that each athlete must take responsibility for the substances that arrive in his body – and remember what we are doing in the case of Simona Halep. “If a athlete who is positively tested for a forbidden substance should not only explain how it has reached its system, it would be far too easy for cheaters to get rid of significant sanctions.” emphasized the representative of Wada.
