WADA appeals Jannik Sinner case, seeks suspension

The World Anti-Doping Agency seeks a suspension between one and two years of world No. 1 tennis player Jannik Sinner, who was previously not banned over a case of drug tests from March.

WADA appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over a case of Sinner testing positive twice in March for the anabolic steroid Clostebol. WADA eyes a ban but not the disqualification of any more of his results.

Sinner was starting a second-round match at the China Open when the WADA announcement was made. He won the match, then commented on the appeal.

“Obviously I’m very disappointed and also surprised of this appeal, to be honest, because we had three hearings,” he said, according to the China Open. “All three hearings came out very positively for me. You know, I was not expecting it. I knew it couple of days ago, that they were going to appeal, that today it’s going to go official, so … But yeah, it’s surprise. We always talk about the same thing. Maybe they just want to make sure that everything is in the right position. Yeah, I’m just surprised that they appealed.”

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) previously investigated Sinner’s claim that the Clostebol unintentionally came from a physiotherapist who used an over-the-counter spray containing the substance to treat his own skin wound, then gave daily massages to Sinner without using gloves.

Drug tests on March 10 and March 18 returned what the ITIA called “low levels” of a metabolite of Clostebol.

After the investigation, an independent tribunal ruled that Sinner bore no fault or negligence.

Sinner’s result from the tournament where he first tested positive on March 10, Indian Wells, was disqualified, but he was not suspended. His second positive test came out of competition.

The case was announced Aug. 20, six days before the U.S. Open. Sinner went on to win the U.S. Open, his second Grand Slam title of 2024.

“It is WADA’s view that the finding of ‘no fault or negligence’ was not correct under the applicable rules,” according to a WADA press release. “WADA is seeking a period of ineligibility of between one and two years. WADA is not seeking a disqualification of any results, save that which has already been imposed by the tribunal of first instance.”