Jannik Sinner suspended for three months following positive doping test
Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner, currently ranked number one in the world, will be suspended for three months, until May 4th, following a “settlement agreement” with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). This suspension comes after a positive test for a banned substance in March 2024, for which WADA had originally requested a suspension of one to two years.
Under the terms of the agreement, Sinner will serve his period of ineligibility from February 9, 2025, at 11:59 PM until May 4, 2025, with credit given for the four days already served during his provisional suspension. Consequently, the player will miss the Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami in March, as well as those in Monte Carlo and Madrid in April. However, he will still be eligible to participate in Grand Slam tournaments.
WADA clarified that Sinner did not intend to cheat and that the exposure to clostebol, the banned substance, did not provide him with any performance advantage. This situation occurred without his knowledge due to the negligence of those around him. However, WADA emphasized that according to the Code and the jurisprudence of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), an athlete is responsible for the errors of their entourage, which justifies a three-month suspension in this particular case.
