“I’m very disappointed and also surprised about this appeal because we had three hearings” : Jannik Sinner reacts as WADA calls for a ban on Italian athlete
Jannik Sinner’ doping saga has taken another turn, as The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has called for the Italian tennis star to be banned for one to two years. This comes on the back of Jannik Sinner’s two failed doping tests a couple of months earlier, as WADA believes that this is sheer negligence on part of the athlete.
When the news broke out, Jannik Sinner was scheduled to face Roman Safiullin in the last 16 at the Beijing Open on Saturday. The Italian came back from a set down once again to defeat the Russian, as he advanced into the quarterfinals. The two-time Grand Slam champion will now face Jiri Lehecka in the quarterfinals on Monday.
Speaking after his victory in the last 16 clash, Jannik Sinner was left disappointed by WADA’s appeal. The Italian has already had three hearings, and he surprised by WADA’s decision to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“Obviously I’m very disappointed and also surprised about this appeal because we had three hearings,” Sinner said. All three hearings came out very positively for me. I knew it a couple of days ago, that they were going to appeal, that today it’s going to go official,” said Sinner, as quoted by Eurosport.
WADA appeals to CAS to impose ban on Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner was found contaminated during his samples collected in March this year. The Italian’s team had used an over the counter spray to treat a wound, which contained the contaminated substance.
Jannik Sinner stated that he was unaware about the contaminated substance, as his team had cooperated with the ITIA in the process. ITIA deemed that the exposure to the substance was not intentional, and did not oppose Sinner’s plea to lift the ban.
“A thorough investigation by the ITIA followed, including multiple in-depth interviews with Sinner and their support team, all of whom co-operated fully with the process.”
“Following that investigation, and in line with the independent scientific advice, the ITIA accepted the player’s explanation as to the source of clostebol found in their sample and that the violation was not intentional.”
The entire saga has seemed to divide the tennis fraternity as many seem to be perplexed as to how the Italian is being allowed to compete so soon. Former world number one Simona Halep had to serve a lengthy ban for the same reason, as the likes of Nick Kyrgios have demanded more consistency in such situations.
