MONTREAL (AFP) – Tennis star Jannik Sinner’s doping case will not have a decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) before the end of the year, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) told AFP.
“There will be nothing by the end of the year,” WADA director general Olivier Niggli said in an interview with AFP.
The Italian world number one twice tested positive for traces of the banned substance clostebol in March but was exonerated and allowed to carry on playing.
An independent tribunal at the end of August, requested by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) found that the Australian Open and United States (US) Open champion “bears no fault or negligence”.
The ITIA accepted Sinner’s explanation that the drug entered his system when his physiotherapist used a spray containing it to treat a cut, then provided massage and sports therapy to the player.
WADA have appealed the decision to clear the 23-year-old and are seeking a ban of up to two years.
“It was considered in the decision that there was no fault on the part of Sinner. Our position is that there is still a responsibility of the athlete in relation to his entourage,” Niggli said.
“So it is this legal point that will be debated (before CAS).
“We do not dispute the fact that it could have been a contamination. But we believe that the application of the rules does not correspond to the case law.”
While the ITIA were criticised for having revealed late the positive tests of Sinner and of women’s world number two Iga Swiatek, Niggli believes that “athletes must be protected”. Swiatek last month accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for the heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) in an out-of-competition sample in August 2024.
“Personally, I think that protecting an athlete’s reputation should be our first concern,” said Niggli.
“We live in a world where social media is what it is and means that a reputation can go up in smoke in a very, very short time.”