World Anti-Doping Agency, (WADA) has dragged the International Tennis Integrity Agency, (ITIA) before the Court of Arbitration for Sports, (CAS) for exonerating Jannik Sinner, the top-ranked tennis player in the world, after he tested positive to a banned substance, Clostebol, an anabolic steroid.
Sinner received a provisional suspension following each positive test in March after two samples were collected during an ATP Master 1000 Tour event in Indian Wells. However, athletes have the right to appeal these provisional suspensions.
A separate tribunal convened by ITIA heard those appeals quickly and in each case accepted his explanations which he was able to prove with testimony from his support team and receipts showing that the banned substance unintentionally entered his system through a massage from his physiotherapist, who had used a heating spray containing the steroid to treat his own cut finger.
Those decisions to appeal the suspensions allowed Sinner to continue playing while authorities pursued a full investigation. Under these circumstances, ITIA rules allow for the test results and the investigation to remain confidential until the final hearing adjudication.
That occured on August 15 after which ITIA published the case.
As a result, he was docked 400 ranking points and fined $325,000 that he earned from the tournament but he avoided a ban as he was found to bear “no fault or negligence”, meaning that he was not to blame.
The decision to clear the Italian has been met with skepticism by some players on tour, who points that Sinner had benefitted from preferential treatment due to his status as world number one.
WADA said it filed an appeal to the Switzerland based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). ” It is WADA’s view that the finding of ” no fault or negligence ” was not correct under the applicable rules”, a statement said.
” WADA is seeking a period of ineligibility of between one and two years. WADA is not seeking a disqualification of results, save that which has already been imposed by the tribunal of first instance”.
Interesting article.