New setback for Sinner: The World Anti-Doping Agency has appealed and is demanding up to a two-year ban for the world number one

Controversy surrounding the case Jannik Sinner, the current world number onecontinues to grow. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has officially filed an appeal with the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after disagreeing with the decision of the independent tribunal of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), which cleared the Italian tennis player. through fault and negligence, despite having twice tested positive for clostebol, a banned substance, in March 2024.

The International Anti-Doping Agency announced last Thursday, September 26, its decision to appeal the ITIA’s verdict, which held that Sinner was not responsible for the presence of the substance in his body. According to WADA, this conclusion is “not correct” under the rules of the World Anti-Doping Code, and therefore asked CAS to impose a sanction of one to two years on the tennis player.

“As this matter is now under consideration by CAS, WADA will not be making any further comments at this time,” the agency said in a statement making the appeal official.

The Sinner case became famous for the first positive finding, which was detected during a check carried out during the Indian Wells tournament, played in March 2024. The second positive then confirmed the presence of clostebol in the body of the Italian tennis player. However, an independent ITIA tribunal concluded that it was a fluke and cleared him of liability, allowing him to continue competing on the ATP circuit without any sanction.

since Sinner continued his career and participated in a total of nine tournaments (including the China Open currently being played) and won four titles, including the United States Open, the second Grand Slam of his career.

In its appeal, WADA did not ask that Sinner’s results be annulled because the positive results were known, except for those already removed by the ITIA decision. The court of first instance has already stripped the Italian of points and financial rewards earned during his participation in the Indian Wells Masters 1000, the tournament in which the first positive was recorded.

“We are asking for a ban period of between one and two years, but we are not asking for any result to be overturned, other than that already imposed by the trial court,” The AMA specifies in a statement.

WADA relies on international anti-doping regulations that do not recognize lack of culpability as justification for the use of banned substances. The decision to appeal the ITIA ruling is in line with precedents in which other tennis players have been sanctioned in similar situations. A close case was Chilean Nicolás Jarry, who was suspended for 11 months in 2020 after testing positive for banned substances which, like Sinner, were said to have accidentally entered his body through a contaminated supplement.

If CAS decides to uphold WADA’s appeal, Sinner could face a significant career-altering sanction, especially after rising to the top of the ATP rankings and establishing himself as one of the best tennis players on the circuit.

It should be noted that according to the time set by the World Anti-Doping Code, WADA submitted its appeal within the appropriate period. Although on September 10, some sources indicated that the appeal had not been formalized, the AMA explained that the deadline would be extended by 21 days from the full receipt of the file related to the decision of the court of first instance, which would occur on September 27. Finally, on the 26th, the international organization announced, that she decided to proceed with the appeal.

It is now in the hands of CAS, which will be in charge of evaluating whether the decision of the ITIA court was correct and whether Sinner should be sanctioned with a suspension of one to two years. The resolution of this case will be crucial not only for the Italian tennis player’s career, but also for determining how anti-doping regulations are applied in such situations in the future of the sport.

World Anti-Doping Agency Statement:

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) confirms that it has lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday 26 September in the case of Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner, who was judged neither guilty nor negligent by the independent International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) tribunal after he was tested positive twice for clostebol, a banned substance, in March 2024.

WADA believes that the conclusion that there was no “error or negligence” was not correct under the applicable rules. WADA requires a period of ineligibility of between one and two years. WADA does not request the exclusion of any result other than that already imposed by the trial court.

As this matter is now under consideration by CAS, WADA will not be making any further comments at this time.