Italian Jannik Sinner, world number 1 in men’s tennis, will appear before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on April 16 and 17 after testing positive for a banned substance without being suspended, the CAS announced on Friday, quoted by AFP.
“None of the parties requested a public hearing, and the debates will take place behind closed doors”, at the headquarters of the CAS in Lausanne, continues the same source. No date has been set for sentencing, which usually takes place weeks or months later.
Jannik Sinner tested positive twice in an eight-day period in March 2024. Traces of clostebol, an anabolic agent, were found in his urine samples during those tests.
He was exonerated by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), which accepted in late August the Italian’s explanation that he had suffered accidental contamination from a spray used by a member of his team.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA/WADA) appealed this decision to CAS, asking for a suspension of one or two years.
The ITIA and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) have joined the appeal and will also be parties to the hearing.
“It was considered in the decision that there was no fault of Sinner. Our position is that there is still a responsibility of the athlete to his entourage,” explained Olivier Niggli, director general of AMA/WADA, to AFP in mid-December.
“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 jurisprudence”, he added.
Australian Open and US Open winner in 2024 Jannick Sinner will meet Chile’s Nicolas Jarry in the opening round of the Grand Slam in Melbourne starting on Sunday.
Source: www.cotidianul.ro
